DRESSCROATS
by Come Around Sunrise
Summary: Their origins are drastically different to each other, yet the similarities in character emerge as they are destined to meet on the same path. Will they accept what was planned or will they make their own choices? Superman / Wonder Woman. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**ALL CHARACTERS ARE PROPERTY OF DC COMICS. I OWN SQUAT.**

_**A/N: **I wrote a lot of plotlines in my notepad the past few weeks and this seems to have the most X-Factor to me. I hope you guys enjoy it. This fic is an AU, so it's completely non-canon but there will be a lot of influences from all sorts of DC stuff involving our favourite pairing. You might recognise plot references to the comics, JLAU, DC movies, animated, live-action, N52 and many more and I will use some of them to tell this story. Hope you guys enjoy it. The title is weird, I know._

_As always all constructive feedback and reviews whether good/bad/obscene (I hope not) will be read and appreciated. Don't hold back. If you feel that there has been any plagiarism of any sort I assure you that is not my intent at all, as I'm sure you all know there are many amazing and profound SM/WW stories from great writers on this site and I can't help it if any parallels are drawn. I will strive to update as often as I can and I vow to complete this story whether it concludes itself in five chapters or 52 (see what I did there? Sorry)._

* * *

DRESSCROATS

"I win. After today the balance of power will shift towards me."

"Perhaps, but you will only be as powerful as those who follow you."

"True," He chuckled. "Your followers are orders of magnitude more powerful than mine, but your Kryptonians are the victims of their own successes, and tomorrow they will be no more. Ironic isn't it? They are doomed, simply because they are who they are. And my Olympians will be forever immortal. Victory, my friend, I will revel in this for moons to come."

"Can you really say that you have won? Yes, my people are doomed, but they were on the cusp of reaching pinnacles me and you climbed not so long ago, can you say the same? Your people will never reach what mine have, and they never will."

Rao had a point, his Kryptonians were fast evolving into godliness and their awareness in their superiority resulted in self-absorbed, haughty xenophobia and they closed themselves off from any intergalaxial interaction. They had ultimate confidence in Rao, but failed to see the consequences of their self-worship.

Zeus proclaimed arrogantly "You don't see it do you? Your people are dead, mine will live, and you will wither into nothing."

"It didn't have to be like this, we both know that. We could've existed in harmony and our people will know peace. But we are as proud as we are powerful, and I will atone for my mistakes, as will you."

"Do you always get sentimental when facing the inevitable?" Zeus snorted. "My only mistake was thinking you could actually be more powerful than me." He added, pure arrogance in his voice.

"This isn't the end, Zeus. I might end today but my legacy will continue, and you-" He paused. Closing his eyes, he realised that in the future, they will both face judgement. "No, we, we will reap what we sow."

Raising an eyebrow, he smirked "And how might that be? Some untold prophecy?"

"No, not a prophecy, but a promise. I might not return, but someone will, and he will finish what we started. And he will not be alone."

"Ramblings of a dead man!" Zeus dismissed. "And who are these you speak of? The Last Sons of Krypton? Humph, I don't care anymore about what you have to say, Rao. This is the end and your influence is meaningless when all your people burn. You won't be missed." He retorted bitterly.

"We'll meet again, God of Thunder." Rao said with a heavy sigh, but with his chin held high.

"Leave this place, Rao."

Rao vanished in a flash of light, leaving Zeus in his throne room to bask in his self-conceived victory. _Such arrogance from a dead god- no, man_ he mused. Who was Rao to say this wasn't over? This ego-driven contest of the most powerful beings in the universe was over and he was victorious. But something was niggling in the back of his head, Rao was a very wise being, and he was very rarely, if ever, wrong in his predictions of tomorrow. So what if the old fool was right? Who can challenge me? he thought but that train of thinking was pushed away momentarily when he felt a surge of new power course through him. _And the eternal balance of the cosmos is back where it should be, with me_ _at the fulcrum_.

Zeus smiled to himself, this was a momentous day in the history of the universe. For too long the power in this galaxy was shared between him and numerous others, but only Rao was there to truly challenge him in terms of true dominance. Now that he has ceased to exist there will be only one king sitting atop the hill, or the Mountain, technically speaking. The Olympians were powerful beings of another dimension, Zeus, the ruler of Olympus and his wife Hera were on top of the food chain. But in addition to them the Pantheon of the Olympian gods were powerful celestials in their own right, and the people of Gaea recognised them, erecting temples and establishing religions in their name. Power is not power until it is power recognised. But with the sands of time comes the wave of change. People didn't pray to them as often as they would've liked, they lived in mythology, only one nation remained to worship them but they too lived hidden in a cloud of fables. But their influence remains the same, war, love, hate, happiness, gluttony, generosity and everything in between exists in equal portions throughout the Earth, all in the name of balance of course. Sitting contentedly on his dais, he languished in his own glory and looked ahead with the proud outlook he always had. He was the immortal Zeus, the God of Sky, Thunder and Lightning.

But Rao's parting words were ringing out in Zeus' head. What if the oaf was right? At least now he would be prepared. No one will take the newfound power granted to him, and he set about pondering potential weapons that can be used to deter the potential usurpers.

* * *

"It's almost time my love."

Jor-El has just finished confirming the warp course waypoints on the ship's hyperdrive navigation computer. He and his wife will perish today but the babe that symbolised their love for each other and the their hopes for fellow sentients will at least have a chance.

"Let me just look at him, please." Lara softly pleaded, her tears were flowing in singular streams down her white cheeks onto her son's little head, adorned with ashy and soft curly hair. "He's beautiful, Jor."

"He's our son, my love. Krypton's first free birth in centuries. He will be the embodiment of all that we have stood for. He is the ultimate evolution of our race."

Kryptonians were one of the most efficient civilisations in the known universe. They streamlined and perfected their population by manufacturing new-borns in birthing matrixes and their role in society were pre-selected based on the optimisation of their genes. It made for a controlled, communistic and extremely draconian society where everyone had a place. But the children of Krypton were robbed of any uniqueness and choice.

"That planet you chose, he will be a god amongst them." Lara reverently stated.

"His cells will drink in the yellow sun's radiation, it will make him more powerful than I could have ever imagined. But unlike us, he will be free, Lara, and he will live to make his own choices, his destiny is his own making. He can choose to be a god and ruler, yes, or he can choose to be a symbol of hope, and he can inspire the Earthlings to achieve something greater than themselves."

Lara kissed the baby's head while cradling him close to her. She was about to leave her son to fend for himself in the vast and uncharted universe. She prayed to Rao for safe guidance and very reluctantly placed him in the chamber.

"One last thing." Jor pointed out.

Jor-El took the liberty of downloading all of Krypton's knowledge and history into a small vessel which he inserted into a console on the ship's instrument panel. He also created an interactive intelligence version of his and Lara's consciousness for their son to interact with when he was of age, and the conduit for that was also integrated into the small rock-shaped information vessel in the ship's console. _The Codex._ Construction crystals which were used to create the El technology were also stored in the ship and locked into Kal-El's complex genetic code. Suddenly, a red surge of mystic energy surrounded the baby chamber and seemed to congregate and flow from the console into Kal-El. The red and white streams, akin to waterfalls, vanished after a few seconds leaving both parents equally startled.

"What was it Jor?"

"Sensors are not indicating any anomalies, which is very concerning, but his vitals are stable and healthy, we do not have time to ponder this."

"I agree. The ship is almost ready, the heat shield calibrations are almost complete, and the artificial gravity emulators are set to auto-adjust. Fuel is at the correct concentration levels. " She solemnly replied. Jor gave Lara a reassuring squeeze of the hand.

Kelex, the house's A.I. guardian and servant, materialised near them. "Master Jor-El and Mistress Lara, small earthquakes have been registered all throughout the region and stronger quakes are following them."

Jor-El's expression turned grim at the news. "It's happening." He said.

"You were right all along." Lara concurred. Then she remembered "I gave the schematics to Zor-El and he agreed to send Kal-El's cousin away as well."

"That is good, they will be the last bastions of our kind."

Jor-El was Krypton's greatest scientist. He and his wife Lara were a formidable think-tank. Their forward thinking, openness to change and near godly intelligence meant that the House of El was one of the driving reasons for Krypton's latest advancements and superiority over other civilisations. The House of El was among the most respected in Krypton until Jor-El predicted its impending doom. The High Council, other scientists and the Kryptonian houses dismissed his theory and stripped him of his position for blasphemy. Rao would never let anything so cataclysmic like that happen, the Council reasoned, and continued in the mineral mining of the planet's unstable core without any further reservations. Jor-El pointed out that their own arrogance will be their undoing, but his warnings fell on deaf ears, sealing Krypton to its fate. He barely had enough time to scout for potential planets that he could send his son to, and even less time to design a craft that would take him there.

Jor gave some commands to the control panel. Two platforms with glove-shaped sensors rose out of the console, waiting for input.

Kissing his son's forehead for the last time, he moved to Lara and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's time Lara, we need to move fast." He pressed.

Jor and Lara put one hand each into the glove-sensors which scanned and verified them both at a molecular level. The sensors retreated and the access doors of the ship started closing and the dome over their lab opened. The Crest of The House of El adorned the access doors proudly and magnificently. A countdown started on the main display panel of the command centre, with every second displaying a new image of life and the scenery among Earth in a sort of slideshow.

"How did you get these images Jor?" Lara asked, she wasn't aware of their existence until now. All she knew of Earth were the scientific observations on its atmosphere and the Solar System it resided, and the biological makeup of the planet's inhabitants.

"As far as I can tell, most of Earth's knowledge is stored in an interplanetary network. I believe it was called the World Wide Web. Earthlings are relatively primitive but they seem to be efficient enough with the spread of information, they use computers to access this database from wherever they seem to be." He equated. "And this web contained an archive of images within what they called a search engine."

"It's a beautiful planet," She conceded, wide eyed at the images playing out before them, and slightly impressed with the inventions she saw, but she knew these inventions can be used for malevolent agendas. It was only natural for a species' scientific advancements to be utilised for conflict. The El's breakthroughs and research were commissioned by the High Council and some were used in the development of Kryptonian war machines which were nigh on unstoppable. This led to long periods of peace since no-one wanted to ever use them for the purpose they were designed for. Their research were also used in the creation of mining engines used to plunder Krypton's volatile core.

"Its beauty is tarnished by evil." she lightly accused.

"Yes, but we are in no position to judge." He asserted, knowing of their own influence in the planet's impending destruction. "The Earth web is full of information about questionable things the Earthlings have done, but the humans, as they call themselves, have hope in themselves, and Kal-El can join them in the sun when they achieve greatness. "

Among the images were the green forests of Europe, the white tundra of the Arctic, the golden and sandy dunes of the Sahara and bright and lively skylines of London, Chicago, and Tokyo, among others. But the last image showed not nature, but a couple, both with black hair and blue eyes, holding hands while watching the Pacific Sunset, as evidenced by the orange sun reflecting on their strikingly familiar, yet alien orbs. Jor-El intended to model the couple on his and Lara's likenesses, but he seemed to be perplexed at the level of detail on the couple's eyes. It's almost as if they were real.

With the last image the thrusters on the ship ignited and began the slow ascent from the launch platform. Jor-El was monitoring the ship's critical sensors while Lara watched their baby slowly leave their home. When the ship cleared the dome, she couldn't hold it back anymore, Kryptonians were an emotionally cold and logical race but she was still a mother. A mother watching her only child leave her and the doomed world she loved. The tears flowed freely now, and Jor-El encircled her in a warm embrace.

"Goodbye, Kal-El." She managed to say between sobs.

"May Rao watch over you, my son."

"I will." A soft, deep voice echoed into nothingness.

The craft picked up speed and disappeared in the red and black sky above the El laboratory. The tremors all around the planet intensified and scathing lava geysers started shooting up from the trenches in the ground caused by the earthquakes.

"Master Jor-El, Mistress Lara, shouldn't you be seeking refuge?"

"It's no use, Kelex." He replied.

"It's been an honour." Kelex stated proudly.

Kal-El's ship reached escape velocity and started traversing deep space, when it completely escaped the system's gravitational pull red shards of electric energy enveloped the ship and seem to cackle around the outer skin. The wormhole projector on the front of the ship deployed itself and a portal opened some distance away, Kal-El's craft flew into the portal which promptly closed itself. It was now safe in hyperspace, journeying to the solar system.

Seconds later, another portal opened, created by Kara Zor-El's ship. Before the ship can reach the portal however, Krypton split along its axis and exploded in a supernova-like flash of sheer nuclear energy, the huge explosion hurled great chunks of glowing rocks outwards into space and a giant piece smashed into the front of the Zor-El spacecraft, knocking out the wormhole projector and shutting down the portal. Due to the impact the craft veered off-course and had to adjust itself. The journey for Kara Zor-El was now going to take much longer due to the loss of the wormhole projector. She will have to make the trip to Earth the traditional way. In the stasis chamber she slept, suspended in reality. She was a teenager tasked by Zor-El with protecting, guiding, nurturing and culturally shaping Kal-El as he grows up on Earth, she was supposed to arrive at the same time as Kal-El but fate dictated otherwise. Kal-El will forge his own path.

* * *

Two weeks later

Zeus and Hera were staring into the pool which allowed them to observe the mortal plane as they went about their lives. Hera was aware of Zeus' and Rao's last conversation and she was inwardly pondering what her husband was planning to counter the unlikely and ridiculous prophecy of a Kryptonian successor.

Hera rose up started walking for the bedroom. "Come my dear, let us rest. This can wait."

"In a while, I just have some observation to do."

"Observation? You're not still worrying about that are you?"

"I'm not worried!" Zeus cried. "But one can never be too lax, no matter how puny the threat is. I just need a failsafe."

"Is it really necessary? What can a Kryptonian do? That planet is too far away and as far as I am aware no-one survived."

"That I am sure of, my Queen, but I did not become the King of The Gods without planning for all contingencies."

With a sigh she relented. "If you say so, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, if a Son of Krypton is supposed to appear in the future, what is the perfect countermeasure against a potentially powerful _male_?" He proposed, raising an eyebrow at Hera, placing extra emphasis on the word male.

"Well, I suppose an equally powerful female would be the ideal neutraliser." She chimed. Suddenly she realised the full implication of his proposal. "Wait, you do not mean to-"

"Yes, my dear Hera. I have the perfect weapon in mind. Too perfect, even, because by nature the weapon will know nothing but hatred for males and she will be our Champion."

"I suppose you are correct in your line of thinking. Come my love, we can visit them now, your timing could not be more perfect if I might say so. Hippolyta has been praying for a child for months, we'll be able to grant her wish and your ambitions at the same time." She said snidely.

"That we shall." Zeus smugly said with a kiss to her cheek. With a wave of his hand Hera and Zeus vanished in a flash of light.

* * *

It was a beautiful, star-studded evening on the plains of Smallville, Kansas. Martha Kent, the faithful husband of Jonathan Kent was on her porch with only the porch light illuminating her, she was on her knees praying for the gift that she knows she might never be able to receive, but her faith in God was unyielding. Clutching a pendant in her hands she was praying a prayer that she has been praying for months.

"Please God, please, bless us with a child that we might share this eternal love you have bestowed upon me and my husband."

* * *

It was a beautiful, star studded evening on the luscious sands of Themyscira. Hippolyta, the sovereign Queen of the Amazon Nation was on a secluded section of beach with only a small fire to illuminate her, she was on her knees praying for the blessing that she knows she might never be able to receive, but her faith in the gods was steadfast. Hippolyta was cradling a clay model of a child in her arms and she was praying a prayer that she has been praying for months.

"Hera, Zeus, please, please bless me and my sisters with a child of my own so we will learn how to love another being, not in the binding wake of tragedy and heartbreak, but of our own hearts."

* * *

Close to the planet Jupiter, a portal opened and Kal-El's ship emerged out of hyperspace and began crossing the Solar System. The ship bypassed Jupiter, navigated through the asteroid belt and encroached on the final part of its long journey. Cloaking devices were automatically activated to hide the craft's electromagnetic signature and artificial meteorites were deployed around the ship to further mask the deception of the true nature of the ship's arrival. It worked, NASA and the ESA concluded that it was just a freak meteor storm, such a thing was uncommon but there was no cause for any alarm since the meteors would burn up at re-entry over the state of Kansas.

Martha Kent has just finished her evening prayers and was about to go inside when she felt a rumbling in the ground and a a change in the wind, she looked up, she saw nothing but it felt like a huge plane just flew over her house, then a sudden quake. Jonathan and Martha ran out and saw a trench dug out in the field adjacent to their house.

"What the?!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"I'll get the shotgun!" Martha ran back in the house and returned with a double-barrelled break-action shotgun.

"Gimme that!" Jonathan tried to reach for the shotgun but Martha batted his hand away.

"I got it first, dear, now let's go!" She gingerly followed the trench, finger on the trigger-guard. Reluctantly Jonathan followed behind her.

"Careful, we don't know what it is."

"Isn't that the concept of a UFO Jon?" she remarked dryly.

"Oh, sarcasm, nice." Jon rolled his eyes. "Give a woman a gun and she turns into a comedian." He muttered under his breath, but Martha heard him.

Martha glared back at Jon. "You know it's impossible for me to miss you from this distance right honey?" She threatened mildly, but Jon knew her too well.

"Yes, but you might need both shots just in case." He said with a playful look in his eye.

The two followed the flaming trench until they reached the end, where there was a truck-sized capsule shaped craft with strange markings on the outside and a shield-like insignia on the front. The metal skin was smouldering from re-entry but remarkably intact, unlike a normal Space Shuttle. There were no solar panels and the shape of the craft was remarkably _alien._

"Quiet, I see something." Jon shushed quietly.

"I am quiet. What is it?"

"Some sort of satellite maybe?"

"Is that because there's an 'S' on the front?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh funny, seriously though, this doesn't look like a satellite."

"I know what you mean Jon, should we call the sheriff?"

"Yes." Jon nodded, but for some reason neither of them walked away and continued staring in bemused wonder at the alien craft for quite a while.

Suddenly, an antennae probe rose out of an outer panel on the craft's body, it then began beam scanning the immediate environment and locked onto the two humans beside the craft. The probe scanned them up and down and recognised the presence of a weapon. A defensive tractor beam shot out of the antennae and seized the weapon from the human female's hands.

"Oh my God! We're gonna die!" Martha cried.

"Okay, okay, honey, don't panic. If it wanted to kill us it would've already!" Jon reasoned albeit half-heartedly, trying to be calm but inwardly fearing for their lives.

At this point a holographic model of a humanoid male and female, both with black, slightly curly, wavy hair and striking blue eyes were projected out from the probe and stood in front of the Kents who were now white-faced with shock and awe.

The tall, black-haired male started speaking, "Bonjour, Guten Tag, Saluto, Hello, Namaste, Kamusta…." he continued greeting in many languages repeatedly.

Martha found her tongue and blurted out "Hello?"

The male recognised Martha, "Ah, English, how do you do? My name is Jor-El and this is my wife Lara, we are of the House of El, we are from the planet Krypton. Krypton is approximately 18 light years from the planet Earth."

Jon was still in a state of surprise, "18 light years?! What kind of sorce-"

"Shush!" Martha interjected with a light elbow to Jon's side, it would be a warm day in Alaska before they forgot their manners. "Greetings Jor-El and Lara, my name is Martha Kent and this is my husband Jonathan Kent. I apologise for our manners, we don't usually get visitors like you in this part of town." She smiled.

Jon and Lara's consciousness were slightly surprised by the politeness of the human female, their research indicated that human behaviour was antagonistic towards outsiders, not unlike Krypton's. But Martha's warm smile told them that they are not the enemy.

"Ah, no need to apologise, we are not here to cause harm but we need to be sure the arrival of this ship remains discreet." Jor-El said in a soft voice which drew intrigue from the Kents.

"Why?" Jon asked.

"This ship carries a cargo that is precious to us, and we know that your Earth governments will act out in a hostile manner against his arrival." Lara explained.

"His?" Martha and Jon said simultaneously.

"Yes, this ship carries me and my wife's baby son. His name is Kal-El and he is the last male survivor of our race. We sent him here to protect him against the annihilation of our planet." Jor answered.

Martha and Jon were visibly saddened by Jor's revelation and waves of sympathy radiated from their eyes. After a moment of silence, Martha spoke first "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. So you two are-"

"Perished? Yes." Jor confirmed. "What you see are holographic, three-dimensional representations of our consciousness and physical appearance."

"Wow." Jonathan responded, awed by the technology but still pained from knowing that they are both gone. "I hope you two are in peace." He offered.

"Thank you for your sentiments, Jonathan." Jor and Lara smiled, just from those words from Jonathan they realised that the humans in front of them were capable of great love and compassion without prejudice and they would give it freely to anyone they can. The decision for who'll raise their child as foster parents was already half-made.

"Jonathan and Martha of the house Kent. We have something to request of you." Jor stated.

Martha's woman intuition already knew what the request was and her face lit up in a beaming smile. Jon was slow to the catch and raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, what is it?" Jonathan queried.

"We ask you to take our child and raise, love and nurture him as you would your own."

Martha's eyes were moistening at what she just heard. Her prayers have been answered and knowing she would help other people at the same time almost overwhelmed her with joy. Before Jonathan could even blink she answered Jor with pure glee. "Yes, of course, we would be more than happy to adopt him!"

Jon turned to her "Are you sure honey? This isn't the most normal adoption process out there you know."

"Yes, I'm more than sure dear, this is what we both have wanted for years now right?" she implored.

"Of course…well all right." He seemed to contemplate his words but broke out into a smile. "You're gonna be a mother dear!" Jon hugged her tightly and kissed her on the forehead, his own heart bursting with affection. Jor and Lara recognised the outpour of love and any regrets about their choice of foster parents dissipated.

"What does he look like?" Martha asked through teary eyes.

"Why don't you come see him?" Jor-El invited. The access doors lunged to the side and opened in a slight hiss. Martha and Jon walked over to the entrance and saw the most beautiful thing they have ever seen. Sleeping inside was a small, cute and adorable baby boy with black curly hair, they were taken with wonder and admiration towards their foster child.

"He's, he's beautiful Jon."

"He's our son, my love." Jonathan assured. Jor and Lara recognised the deja-vu at this exchange and smiled wider than they ever have.

Martha expressed her gratitude for them, "Thank you, thank you Jor-El and Lara. Thank you for giving us the gift of a son that we can share our love with."

"You're welcome. We are also thankful that it is you who found Kal-El and it is you who will raise him into a man. We ask that you imbue upon him the principles of freedom and teach him how to make his own choices. We also ask that you only tell him of his true parentage when he is of age, we want him to grow up as a human with only earthly influences and without any of the burden that will be bestowed upon him when he realises he is the last of his kind."

Jor then went on to concisely explain the differences between Kryptonians and Earthlings, he especially highlighted the otherworldly traits and abilities that Kal-El will possess due to his physiology. Jon and Martha were taken aback when they learnt of how their newly adopted son will have comic book levels of fantastic power and they expressed silent concern at how they were going to raise a child who can lift a tank at five. Jor also told them that his lifespan will be likely measured in centuries and his powers will exponentially increase as he grows older and possibly reach godly levels of dominance. Jon and Martha assured the two Kryptonians that they will raise Kal-El to cherish the core values and morals pillared by love, understanding, compassion and reverence for all that is living, and further emphasizing their belief in the golden rule of how to treat others; _Love and serve others as you would love and serve yourself._ Relieved and gratified Jor and Lara in turn promised them that they will take the main responsibility of educating Kal-El of his true bloodline and origin when he was ready, giving over the Codex in the Kent's possession until Kal-El was ready to learn.

"Uhmm, Jor? What does the 'S' stand for?" Jon asked. Martha herself wanted to know the answer to this question too.

"The 'S'? I am not sure what you mean by that."

"The 'S', you know, this symbol on the front. The 'S', in the pentagon."

"Ah, I understand. It is not the letter 'S', even though the in the English alphabet it is an 'S', on Krypton it is the ancient crest of the House of El, which to my understanding is millenia older than the Greek-derived alphabet commonly used on Earth." Jor explained.

"Oh. Right." Jon conceded.

Martha was cradling the sweet little child in her arms and wrapped him in a red blanket adorned with the House El crest. Jor-El and Lara gave out instructions on how to hide the spacecraft Kal-El arrived in. The sophisticated cloaking technology would make the craft completely invisible to anyone and anything unless you already knew it was there they explained. Jon proposed that he could put the craft in a storm cellar and build a barn over it. Jor-El agreed but he also extended the fact that the craft itself can be used as a storm cellar just in case the need arises.

"May Rao watch over you Kal-El."

Jor and Lara said their farewells and the hologram projector switched off. The spacecraft turned invisible again and the two new parents started walking back to the house.

"So, what do we name him?" Martha mused.

"We could call him Jimmy, or Michael." Jon's eyes returned to their playful charming self, recognising the opportunity for some light-hearted riling.

"No. Mike Kent? Seriously?" Martha sighed in disbelief.

"Phil?"

"No."

"Jamie?"

"Maybe, but no."

"Bruce?"

"Nope."

"Hugh?"

"Jon, you can't."

"Hugh Kent?"

"You can't."

"Hugh Kent."

"You can't!" Martha reprimanded. By now she would be elbowing him but she was still holding Kal-El with both arms.

"What?" Jon asked wryly, pretending to be innocent.

"Oh shut up." Martha retorted dryly bringing a chuckle to Jon. Upon hearing his laugh the baby stirred and opened his big cerulean eyes and gurgled. Both parents looked at him in wonder.

"Oh hey cutie!" Martha whispered lovingly.

"Hi, did I wake you up?" Jon added, poking the baby's nose with his finger. The baby laughed the most adorable little laugh and reached to squeeze Jon's finger. Jon gulped in silent adoration. "I think I love him more than I love you dear." He teased.

"Me too." Martha agreed.

"Clark Kent."

"Hmm?"

"Clark Kent." Jonathan repeated.

"Clark Kent, I like that. Hello Clark." She caressed and lightly squeezed his fat cheeks. "I am your mother Martha and he is your dad Jonathan." Little Clark Kent just laughed at hearing his mother's loving voice and his eyelids started fluttering, slowly letting out a small yawn and falling back to a silent slumber.

* * *

Zeus and Hera were on a cliff watching Hippolyta pray on the beach next to a small fire some distance some distance away, they were preparing their magic in order to grant the Amazon Queen's wish.

"So, my King, what do we say to dear old Hippolyta?" Hera started.

Zeus scoffed, "You know, the usual, we say that we have granted her prayers out of our heartfelt gratitude for all the commitment and worship from all the Amazons. What did we say last time?"

Hera sighed, "Don't remind ourselves of last time we intervened regarding the Amazons."

"How couldn't I, if the reminder is my own son?"

"And he should be ashamed, what he did, I find…" Hera seemed to ponder about her next choice of words. "…abominable."

"Perhaps, But that was millennia ago. And we granted them immortality and their own Paradise free of any outside influence for all their troubles, and they very graciously accepted our terms of them having to live in isolation. Remember?"

"Yes, your majesty, I remember everything." Hera dismissed. "Everything."

* * *

Hercules, or _Heracles_ was and is one of the most recognisable heroes in Greek mythology. Born of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. There have been many tales about his heroism, his warrior prowess and how he used his abilities to help and save those in need. People praised him, revered him and even worshipped him. He was Zeus' favourite son, and he knew it, the people of ancient Greece kissed his feet and bowed in his presence. His head inflated to such a point that his pride was just as remarkable as his strength. His arrogance rivalled his father's. And that's saying something. One day he heard tales of a secluded nation of strong, peaceful warrior women. He heard that these _Amazons of Themyscira _were as fierce as they were beautiful. His interest piqued, he decide to journey out to Themyscira to see if the tales of beautiful warrior women were true.

He and his merry band of hoplite mercenaries reached the walls of the city to be met by a well-organised battalion of soldiers in phalanx there to greet him. They allowed him and his party access into the walled city and they were received with a banquet at the royal hall. Sitting on a sparkling gold throne was a beautiful, raven-haired and authoritative figure wearing ornamental armour that magnified her aura of royalty.

She spoke first "Greetings, Heracles, we have heeded your arrival. I am Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons." She smiled a mesmerising smile at him and he was enchanted. She then gave him the traditional Amazonian salute of crossing the wrists high and in front of one's head. He said nothing and stood there in silence with a slightly confused eyebrow.

"Impressed by our presence great warrior?" She prompted. Half-amused at his silence.

After a few more minutes of impatient gawking, Heracles finally spoke. His words were saturated with obnoxiousness.

"Are you going to bow to me or do I have to make you?"

Hippolyta was not intimidated by Heracles at all, which stoked his anger and dented his pride. These Amazons did not bow nor submit to him and his ego was insulted that women of all people were disrespecting. _They should be cooking and cleaning! Blasphemous! _He concocted a plan that involved the men accepting the hospitality of the Amazons and while they were sleeping, he and his men were to move like Trojans in the night and chain all the Amazons and their infuriating Queen. Then they would be finally reminded of who Heracles was. _Everyone but Zeus himself bows to me. _The Amazons were shackled and menacled with iron wristbands. They were ravished mentally, emotionally and physically by Heracles and his men for weeks to come until Zeus, on the behest of Hera, decided to intervene and relieve the Amazons of their torment.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Asked Hera.

"Not yet, we need to alert Hermes, Athena, Artemis, Demeter, Hestia, Aphrodite and Ares of our plans to gift the Amazon. Beckon them to us." Zeus commanded.

"As you wish." Hera flicked her wrist and all the aforementioned gods appeared in front of them. All bowing down at their presence.

"Children of Olympus," Zeus began. "We are here to present Queen Hippolyta with a child of her own. The child is meant to be the future Champion of Olympus and she will have powers akin to gods like us. You are all expected to contribute different abilities and powers to bestow upon the child."

The lesser gods rose and mumbled among themselves. Some like Aphrodite and Athena were visibly excited and a select few were less than enthusiastic about having to share their magical-based powers. None defied the word of Zeus though and they prepared their respective magic ready to impart upon the new-born. After a moment, Zeus raised his sceptre and enveloped all of them in a cloud of lightning. "Let's go." He said.

Storm cloud formations formed over the beach and the loud rumble of thunder filled the peaceful sky. A bolt of lightning shot down from the centre of the clouds and struck directly in front of Hippolyta. Instantly the two gods appeared where the lightning struck and right in front of a serene and kneeling Hippolyta, alarming and startling her. She was further surprised when the other gods appeared behind them shortly afterwards.

Hippolyta bowed her head and spoke as clear as her mind allowed. "Lord Zeus, Lady Hera, Pantheon of Olympus. You honour me with your presence."

Hera flashed a dazzling smile at Hippolyta as Zeus' voice boomed "Rise, Queen of the Amazons."

Hippolyta stood up straight and respectfully moved her eyes around to meet all gods' gazes. She was still cradling the clay child figure in her arms.

"To what do I owe this visit, Lord Zeus?" she asked softly, but clearly.

"You have been praying for a child of your own for months, dear Hippolyta." Hera answered. Hippolyta's face turned from an expression of confusion to slight shock and she took a half step back.

"We have decided to answer your prayers." Zeus continued. Hippolyta gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. Her eyes were glistening and the beginnings of a huge smile were forming on her lips.

"Place the figurine on the fire." Hera ordered. Hippolyta obeyed and placed the clay model in the small fire she used for light.

Blue, orange and yellow tinted magical energy flowed from gods' outstretched hands and the different streams converged above the fire. The magic swirled around at moved downwards and convalesced in blinding light into the head of the child. After a while the light and the fire died down and in its wake left a small, beautiful and crying baby girl. Tears of unbridled joy flowed from Hippolyta's eyes as she bent down to pick up the raven-haired, sapphire-eyed babe and protectively held her tight in her chest, rocking her gently and kissing her forehead.

"I cannot thank you enough for this, my sovereign gods." Hippolyta whispered gratefully. All the gods save for Ares couldn't help but smile at the heart-warming sight before them.

"We have found great favour in you, Hippolyta." Hera began, "me and my King found it fit to act upon this favour and breathe new life among you. This child is a symbol of the great appreciation we experienced due to your undying worship of us."

"Indeed," Zeus added. "She will grow up a very powerful and gifted being. She will have abilities akin to my own children, and she exists not only to bring joy to your nation but using her granted talents she will live to serve us as well. She will also have a higher purpose than being heir to the throne of Themyscira, what that is I cannot tell you but it will unravel in due time."

"We will bend to your will, Lord Zeus," Hippolyta bowed.

Zeus and Hera started listing off and explaining the powers that were gifted to the child during her creation. Speed and flight from Hermes, Wisdom and Intelligence from Athena, Accelerated Healing from Demeter, the ability to Discern Truth From Lies and the ability to Resist Offensive Magic from Hestia. Enhanced Senses and Animal Empathy were gifted from Artemis. Innate instincts pertaining to Strategy and War was bestowed from Ares and he was tasked with her combat training until she learnt how to control her strength. Zeus himself gifted her with the power to wield his Lightning and exhibit demigod levels of Strength and Invulnerability. Lastly, Aphrodite gave her a heart capable of Great Love free of prejudice, and extreme physical beauty.

Hippolyta was slightly concerned about how her new child will have such great abilities, she wondered silently if the gods meant to use her to further their ambitions but her concern was derailed when the little girl gazed sweetly at her and giggled with delight at the sight of her mother.

"Hello little princess." Hippolyta cooed. The child upon hearing her mother's sweet, caring voice giggled further

Hippolyta turned to the gods and looked at each one of them, "I will never forget this great blessing to our nation, Gods of Olympus; all of you have my utmost admiration and gratitude." All the gods smiled at her except for Ares who gave a slight scoff.

"Make sure you never forget that, Hippolyta." Zeus replied, Hera flicked her wrist and in an instant the gods were gone. Leaving the beach back as it was, peaceful, serene, and beautiful, made even more so at the sight of Hippolyta joyfully sauntering back to her palace with a gorgeous baby girl in her arms.

* * *

Hippolyta reached the palace outskirts where Philippus, the General and leader of the Royal Guard was there ready to receive her. Philippus saw Hippolyta from far away but due to the darkness she didn't notice anything amiss. Only when she approached nearer did Philippus see the living, breathing and decidedly adorable baby in her Queen's arms.

"Your majesty, what is the meaning of this?" Philippus blurted urgently, her eyebrows were furrowed and knitted in amazement. The other guards quietly mirrored her reaction.

"My prayers have been answered General. Tonight the Amazon Nation welcomes a child gifted to us by the gods of Olympus themselves."

"That's, that's wonderful news my Queen." Philippus happily sighed. "It seems the gods have found great favour in us."

"Yes, General, they have. This beautiful girl is now the Princess of Themyscira. She was gifted with powers derived from the Olympian Pantheon itself."

"Excuse me?" Philippus remarked.

"The gods present imbued upon her a part of their own essence, she shares traits with many of those we worship and Zeus himself told me that she was destined for greatness. Her soul was infused from the gods' themselves."

"I see." Philippus then raised an eyebrow at Hippolyta. "What is her name?"

"Actually, I was waiting for your input on that, General, even I can't think of a name to properly convey her divinity." Hippolyta answered.

Philippus bowed to Hippolyta gracefully "I am humbled that you think so highly of me, my Queen. But if I may say so the word _Divine _seems to adequately describe her."

Hippolyta looked bemused at Philippus for a second and then curved her lips.

"She is Diana, born of the gods and the divine heir to the throne of Themyscira."

"She's your daughter."

Hippolyta looked at Diana and smiled, "That she is."

* * *

_**A/N: **This chapter may feel like a filler. Everyone knows Clark was an out-of-the-blue spaceship baby and Diana was a life-infused pottery project. Seems bizarre at first but hey. The chap is meant to highlight the fundamental differences in the principles regarding Clark and Diana's Earth origins. Clark is an alien and Diana is a Princess. Diana from her first breath was already put on a very high pedestal whereas Clark's beginnings are a tad more humble. But the similarities are obvious. _


	3. Chapter 3

Hippolyta and her Royal Guard started making their way towards the palace. The guards who saw them looked in surprise and admiration as they walked by. It seems all of the attention was on the beautiful baby sister. Hippolyta looked upon her with motherly pride and protectiveness, as did Philippus and the guards to some extent.

"When is the presentation of the little one taking place my Queen?" Philippus asked.

Hippolyta's attention was briefly pried from the Diana as she made the decision, "As soon as possible, spread news of a great gathering to take place in the main coliseum in three days' time. I expect each and all of our Themysciran sisters to be present." She replied.

"As you wish." Philippus obeyed, barely able to contain her excitement for the coming celebration.

* * *

"Happy Birthday!" Both Kents cheerfully greeted. It was the morning after Clark's arrival and they decided that today would be his birthday, the sun was out and the morning was beautiful. The new family were in the backyard of their three-bedroom farmhouse and Jonathan put up the understated party decorations and balloons he found from the nearest gas stations. Due to Clark's alien origins he would have to remain a secret for now to avoid suspicion and if anyone was to find out about him the Kents drew out a plan involving them having to explain that they went through with a secret pregnancy and announce him to family friends in a few months. Fortunately, Smallville was a sparsely populated town and nearest neighbour was miles away and virtually no one except for the postman visits the Kent farm at all.

Martha rose earlier than Jonathan and Clark, she cooked a breakfast consisting of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. To her delight little Clark seemed to have a keen taste for her home cooking and started consuming a serving fit for three children, he burped loudly after finishing four pancakes, and he was still game for more.

"Wow, that's what I call an appetite!" Jon remarked.

"I know right!" Martha exclaimed, "Isn't he so adorable dear? I guess he didn't eat much on the way here." Mused Martha as she went on to continue spoon feeding a determined Clark.

"Let me have a turn feeding him, you've been hogging him all morning!" Jon protested.

Martha laughed. "Not on your life." She replied.

"Please?" Jon pleaded, "And honey you need to eat, mothers need to eat remember?"

"Oh fine." Martha accepted, leaving Jon to eagerly tend to their happy son. Both parents were smiling with adoration and pride as Clark happily ate his first meal as their child.

* * *

Five thousand Amazons were gathered in grand coliseum, the exterior was built out of white marble and the building big enough to sit them all. The entire Grecian-style building was decorated with flowing red banners with white and gold outlines. On the coliseum floor was a parade formation of elite Amazon warriors. The Amazonian elites were clad in red and gold ceremonial armour which accentuated the colours already strewn around the stadia. All the seated Amazons were dressed in spotless white tunics and everyone present except for Diana was wearing silver armbands which covered both arms from the wrists to halfway up one's forearm. The armbands were emblazoned with the Amazon Insignia, consisting of a maroon red star overlaid on golden stripes meant to emulate the silhouette of an eagle spreading its wings.

Queen Hippolyta and General Philippus, together with Diana lying in an ornamental crib were located in the royal box, flanked by the most senior of the royal guards. The crowd present was buzzing with anticipation, it has been a long time since a celebration like this was called for and the excitement in the air was palpable.

Hippolyta, wearing her royal robes and her ornate crown stood up for all to see, she raised her right hand with her palm open to gesture for the crowd to quieten. Instantly the huge coliseum was enveloped in a soft silence.

Hippolyta then started in a loud, clear and authoritative voice "Sisters, Warriors, and Amazons." She addressed. "Today is a momentous day for us a nation."

She continued. "Millennia ago we suffered a heart-breaking tragedy at the hands of Heracles, and it was the Gods of Olympus who graced us with mercy and granted us salvation from our chains." She and all the Amazons looked down and after a few seconds of silence Hippolyta continued speaking, "They granted us immortality, and the chance for a new life in our Paradise, and we have not looked back. Out of tragedy we have found companionship, camaraderie and compassion in each other. But we as a nation need to learn how to love unconditionally, and not just by default from the torment we have all suffered." She brought forth passionately.

Hippolyta's regal face the broke out into a small, but telling smile, "I have been praying to the gods who saved us to grant my wish for a successor to the throne, and due to our worship of them, they found favour in us and decided to grant my wish."

It was as if a wave of cheer swept through the whole coliseum and the silence gave way to the initial gasps of surprise and then then proceeded to break out into pockets of cheers.

Hippolyta waited for the crowd to settle down and started speaking again, "Citizens of Themyscira, on this day we welcome the newest addition to our family, born from the gods' magic and gifted upon us to bring great joy," Hippolyta picked Diana up from her crib and lifted her above her head for the crowd to marvel upon.

The beautiful child was illuminated by the bright morning sun. Hippolyta pulled out two silver fabric armbands embroidered with the Amazon Insignia and wrapped them around the baby's cute stubby arms. The crowd clapped further in delight. Diana was a little restless from having the two wristbands placed on her but eventually stopped fidgeting. The presentation of armbands was considered significant since the armbands were symbolic of the menacles used by Heracles and his men to subdue the Amazons. The bracelets were a reminder that no Amazon should ever submit to any man.

"I present to you…Princess Diana. My daughter and heir to the Throne of Themyscira." Hippolyta broadcasted.

The crowd broke out to a thunderous symphony of applause, cheers and claps. The joy on the Queen's and indeed everyone's expression was clear for all to see.

* * *

After Diana's presentation, Hippolyta decreed that there was to be a day's worth of celebration, feasting and afterwards another day of competitive combat to mark Diana's birth. The Amazons were excited about the news of the coming feasts but everyone was looking forward more to the games, the Amazons were warriors and salivated at every chance to test themselves in battle against each other.

Hippolyta, Diana and the senior Amazons were in the main banquet hall. The Queen, the Princess, General Philippus and the army commanders were situated on a long table in the middle of the hall. They were enjoying themselves when Hippolyta stood up to speak, "Enjoy the food everyone, tomorrow you will need all of the energy you can muster." She said, bringing cheers from the tables, she looked as if she was making a decision then continued speaking "Everyone and anyone is allowed to enter, the winner and hence the most proficient warrior will be granted the honour of being Diana's mentor and teacher on the art of battle. Her training will commence as soon as she can handle a sword."

The crowd stirred and gasped, realising the implications of Hippolyta's words. Finally, a tall, red-haired with striking green eyes stood up and raised her goblet. "Consider that honour mine!" Then gulped down a mouthful of wine.

"Don't be so sure Artemis, I plan to take part in this." Challenged Philippus, rising to Artemis' gesture then sitting back down.

The women present whispered among themselves, no doubt looking forward to the epic showdown between the two. Both women were in peak physical shape. Philippus was the General, the leader of the royal guards and she was an experienced fighter, extremely skilled in her craft. Artemis was not as experienced as Philippus but she was physically more gifted. Artemis was taller, although both women were relatively tall, she was also stronger, more aggressive compared to Philippus being more calculating and her fighting prowess attained her the command of the Amazonian Elites, of which the royal guard was a sub-division. She was also mentored by Philippus herself and the two were evenly matched in previous sparring. It was inevitable that these two would meet in the final stage of the contest.

"One more thing." Hippolyta started, "members of the royal guard would not be able to take part."

"What?!" Philippus and Artemis protested. Philippus looked at the Queen and opened her mouth to argue "I mean-"

"The royal guard is tasked with protecting the Princess." Explained Hippolyta. Philippus tried to speak again but Hippolyta waved her off. "Don't worry, General, I will compromise, you will be allowed to take part as the representative of the royal guards since the unit as a whole will not participate."

Philippus nodded at the Queen, "As you wish." She sighed.

"I look forward to seeing you two on the battlefield, my dear sisters." Hippolyta offered with a smile and continued tending to Diana.

The women looked at her with raised eyebrows, bringing out a small chuckle from the Queen. "Did I not say anyone is allowed to take part?" she said with a wave of her hand. "I also would want the chance to mentor our Princess, and it has been quite a while since I swung a sword. Let it not be known that the Queen thinks of her subjects as beneath her and that she would not partake in such an event." She added, and continued tending to Diana.

Hippolyta, while being the ruler of the Amazons with high responsibilities and obligations was still a formidable fighter and a skilled strategist in her own right. The competition was going to be interesting and the women murmured to themselves, already arguing which one would probably win. The feast continued and everyone was excited and on edge with anticipation for the coming event.

* * *

It was the day of the competition. The event was held at the same great coliseum which was now configured into a battle arena with multiple battle sectors. The seats were again packed and the smell of sweat in the air was welcoming.

The women who wished to take part were drawn at random and put into groups of ten. The women were to fight each other in their respective groups, they were to battle each group-mate once and the woman who won the most fights in her group was to advance as the winner from the group stage to the elimination stage. There would then be a random bracket-style playoff and only one warrior can come out on top. The rules were that the armour was to be kept to the absolute minimum, since they were fighting with dulled blades. No-one is going to die for the sake of celebrating Diana's birth. There was a choice of three weapons to fight with, the weapons allowed were either a sword, a pike, or a spear. Virtually everyone chose to use a sword except for Philippus who went with the long pike. Another rule was all participants were to wear full helmets to conceal their identity, the helmets were to be taken off when the respective wearer was eliminated.

The group stage commenced and it was discouragingly obvious that Hippolyta, Philippus and Artemis were in a class of their own. By the convincing way they defeated every opponent the spectators and other fighters discerned who they were regardless of the helmets. The other Amazons realised that with three of them participating this contest was effectively rendered into a three horse race. Everyone else was battling for second place, the three women advanced to the elimination stage, all three winning every single one of their group matches.

Hippolyta fought with grace, balance and poise, she preferred an anticipate-parry-counter-finish style of fighting. Her skill was evident as she dispatched opponent after opponent with smooth and well-practised counters meant to take the offensive as soon as her opponent's first thrust was blocked.

Philippus exuded the same grace but her tactics were more calculating, she was more observant and tentative, preferring to weigh out all her options compared to the reactive nature of Hippolyta's. Philippus' fights lasted the longest as she goaded her opponents to spend themselves by giving them opportunities, blocking and then pulling back to repeat, never letting her opponent to get into a consistent flow. Her patience was limitless then out of nowhere when her opponent was lulled into a sense of rhythm she would unleash a series of lightning-fast offensive moves that stunned her opponents leading to their defeat.

Artemis' style however was less polished, whenever the signal to commence was given she basically launched herself at her opponent, overwhelming them with relentless swipes, kicks, lunges and punches that took advantage of her physical gifts.

The day went on and the field got thinner until there were only four women left. Hippolyta, Philippus, Artemis and the one who got fourth place. Hippolyta went to the final as she easily dispatched the other woman. She watched on the bleachers as Artemis and Philippus squared off.

As expected, Artemis took to the offensive as soon as she could, she ran at Philippus and moved to bring her sword across Philippus' torso. Philippus saw it coming and instinctively took a step back, dodging the sword and bringing her pike to block Artemis' next move. Artemis then tried to bring her sword downwards, lunging at Philippus in order to do so. Philippus gracefully moved her feet and spun around the vertical thrust, at the same time sweeping Artemis's legs with her pike causing her to fall. Artemis instinctively rolled away and got back to her feet, snarling at Philippus.

Artemis then charged at Philippus, swinging her sword diagonally and successively stepping forward trying to get inside the long reach of Philippus' pike. She appeared to be getting closer when Philippus crouched and spun again with the pike creating a sweep zone which caused Artemis to fall for a second time. She rolled away like last time and charged back at Philippus.

Artemis unleashed a series of thrusts and swings which Philippus blocked and parried. Artemis' attacks came fast and hard but after a while they were becoming less and less frequent. Philippus recognised this and pretended to be caught off guard, Artemis saw the opportunity and brought her feet up to kick at Philippus' chest. Philippus dropped her lance, caught Artemis' leg and dodged under, she spun round and placed Artemis leg on her right shoulder and pulled her over her head bringing her to the ground. She then brought a hard elbow to Artemis' ribs and stomach, taking the wind out of her causing her to gasp in immobilised pain. The crowd rose up and cheered for their General.

Philippus released Artemis and stood up first, she offered a hand to Artemis who brushed it off.

"Well fought Artemis." Acknowledged Philippus.

"Not well enough, General." Artemis replied with frustration after taking off her helmet. She walked off with her head down in disappointment.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon and the weather coupled with the strenous activities meant that the combatants were near dehydrated, after a short break the two remaining contestants took their place in front of another in the centre of the arena as the signal for the final battle to commence was given.

Hippolyta expected Philippus' battle tactics to be similar to the previous fights, she moved to attack first but what happened next took her by surprise, instead of defending and breaking off Philippus instead thrusted her pike to meet her sword. Hippolyta was not expecting the move and took a step back. She was anticipating a drawn out battle but Philippus threw her off causing her to have to rethink her entire game plan. With lightning speed Philippus spun forward and Hippolyta brought her sword down to deflect what she thought was going to be a sweep of the legs.

Philippus however spun her pike high and impacted Hippolyta on the left side of the head, dazing her momentarily. Moving too fast for Hippolyta to react Philippus then spun the opposite direction and her pike followed up with a hard hit to Hippolyta's right kidney. Philippus straightened her pike, thrusting forward and connecting with Hippolyta's chest which made her stumble backwards.

Philippus didn't give her a chance to recover as she dropped her pike and charged. Hippolyta swung at her but Philippus caught her sword hand and twisted it around. Hippolyta dropped the sword and Philippus pulled her down and brought an elbow to her midsection. Philippus then rolled away to pick up Hippolyta's sword and got back up on her own feet before Hippolyta could catch her breath. Philippus stood over her and pointed the sword at her throat.

"I yield!" Hippolyta gasped, still in a state of shock over the ferocity of the past minute. She pulled her helmet off and dropping it on the ground. She stood up on and gave the Amazon salute to Philippus who returned it.

The crowd broke the silence and applauded Philippus for her well-deserved victory. Philippus took her helmet off now and graciously bowed to the audience, taking a moment to take the customary victory lap around the outskirts of the arena. She then walked over to the podium where Hippolyta was waiting for her with a golden wreath in her hands.

"I present you with today's victor, General Philippus!" Hippolyta congratulated. "Philippus, you fought with grace, poise, honour and ferocity befitting of being an Amazon. Princess Diana is fortunate to have such a skilled fighter as her eventual mentor."

Philippus dropped to one knee and bowed her head, Hippolyta was about to place the golden wreath around her neck when it disintegrated and combusted in a cloud of red smoke. An imposing _male_ figure materialised in front of the podium.

"Well done little General!" Ares laughed, "I must say that was quite a show, you Amazons actually look like you know how to wield a stick." He continued mockingly.

Philippus and the royal guard reacted by forming a shield wall around the Queen and Diana, their spears were sticking through the shield wall and Ares defied it by turning the spears into tree branches.

"Be gone, God of War!" yelled Philippus.

Ares smirked, "Why?" he asked in a mocking tone. "I am late to this little party you and your whore Queen are hosting?" he added arrogantly.

Hippolyta snarled at Ares which brought another laugh to his smug face. Ares was then enveloped in red lightning and he reappeared clad in his menacing and devilish battle armour. His armour was all black and covered head-to-toe in evil horns and spikes. Black smoke was spilling out of his bullish helmet. He wielded a huge sword with one arm and an equally huge axe with the other. His sword was at his left side and the axe was slung over his right shoulder. His weapons were cackling with red sparks and he looked every part like the god of war he is.

Philippus was about to signal for the archers to let loose when Hippolyta spoke up, "Stand down General, Ares is here for a reason."

Philippus looked at Hippolyta completely nonplussed but followed her orders nonetheless.

"That's right General." Ares affirmed. "I'm assuming Hippolyta here didn't tell you." Ares then turned round to address all the Amazons in attendance. "The creature you call your Princess was created by magic from the Olympian gods! She has abilities that surpass some of my siblings and your best warrior pales in comparison to her potential! Do you really think that any of you could teach her the art of war?! I am war!" he bellowed.

After shaking the ground with his war cry Ares continued, "I was ordered by Zeus to teach her how to properly control her strength. As much as I hate wasting time and effort with you wenches I have to follow Zeus' orders, he is my father after all. Of course, I don't suppose any of you harlots would know what having a father is like right?" he provoked.

"Enough!" Hippolyta snapped. "You will be her mentor Ares. But only until she learns how to control her strength, and not one minute after!"

"Your majesty are you sure? I think this is a mistake." Philippus implored.

"Yes." Hippolyta replied. "Lord Zeus did indeed give the order for Ares to mentor Diana and I cannot defy the order of the King of the gods. Diana will have gifts that even you won't be able to deal with when they unravel themselves. But you still earned the right to mentor her after Ares finishes his tutelage, I expect it will not take long for Diana to master her abilities." She reasoned.

Philippus nodded, "I understand my Queen."

"I'm sorry General, but there's little I can do." Hippolyta replied.

"So, how is the little she-cub?" Ares demanded, he looked Diana in Hippolyta's arms then scratched his chin. "Ah, pretty little thing I see, you know I can teach her more than the art of war Hippolyta? I can finally heed Aphrodite's drivel and teach this child the art of love. How ironic would that be?" He taunted, laughing menacingly.

Ares' words brought shock, anger and deep fear to the Queen's pained expression. "Don't you dare!" Hippolyta warned through gritted teeth.

Ares grinned, "Just something to think about." He then gave Hippolyta a glare, "I'll return when she can hold a sword." He said with a disturbingly chilling tone as he disappeared in a cloud of red smoke.

Philippus observed her Queen, Hippolyta's face looked devoid of any blood and her eyes exhibited a similar look to when she was under Heracles' torture. "Are you alright Hippolyta?" Philippus asked, she was concerned as she only knew the kind of emotions the Queen was feeling right now. It was one thing for them to go through what they did and no other being should be subjected to such brutality, whether it be the Princess or the cook.

Hippolyta gave Philippus a sympathetic looked and nodded, she knew that whenever she used her name instead of the cordialities Philippus was speaking to her as a close friend and sister, instead of an advisor.

"Yes, I am, thank you Philippus, let's go. I and Diana are retiring to my room for the day. I must admit the day's activities exhausted me."

"Yes your majesty, you fought well out there." Philippus acknowledged.

Hippolyta smiled at her "Thank you, you were very impressive as well, your change in tact threw me completely off balance."

"That's what I was going for." Philippus snidely replied.


	4. Chapter 4

Clark sat in the back seat fiddling with his bag. He was wearing a button-up shirt and jeans. Today was his first day of school, because of his still-developing powers he was home-schooled by his parents and he never went to kindergarten, his first day would be middle school. Martha and Jonathan not only taught him literacy and arithmetic, they also taught him strong morals and imbued in him a quality of selfless nobility that they taught him to never cast aside regardless of the circumstances. But he never went through the normal process of making friends with children the same age as him, he never played outside with other children due his parents' fear of him hurting other kids. Despite his home-schooling he was never at a disadvantage from an educational standpoint. In fact, as it turned out, he inherited his biological parents' Kryptonian intellect and it didn't take him much effort to grasp topics meant for children much older than him, his IQ was so remarkable that his parents had to convince him to skip out certain questions in the regulation IQ test for home-schooled kids, they didn't want the attention that he would get from being labelled a prodigy or a child genius since that would invite unwelcome scrutiny. Clark could've easily leapfrogged grades and gone straight to high school but plonking a child who has been secluded for most of his life in high school straight out of the door is a bad idea.

Jonathan pulled up at the school gates to drop Clark off, there was a bus service but he and Martha insisted on taking him there personally on his first day. "Okay kiddo, this is it. Have fun in there."

Clark opened the door and hopped out of the truck. "Sure thing dad, see you later. Bye mom."

Clark started walking away but Martha called him to stop, "What is it mom?" he turned.

Martha's face was stern and she looked impatiently at Clark, "What do you say?" she asked impatiently.

Clark let out a sigh. "I love you. Can I go now?"

"Yes, we love you too." Martha replied, Jonathan chuckled.

Clark walked through the front door and was in the main corridor inside the school when he felt slightly dazed. It was as if all of a sudden he was hit with a smorgasbord of sound, he covered his ears to block out the noise but for some reason the noise kept ringing out in assault, he could hear everything; the chatter, the sound of walking, book pages rustling, the music coming from other kids' earphones, everything, he thought he even heard his dad's truck drive away. He reasoned that it was his nerves playing tricks on him and took a moment to try and regain himself on a side bench. He was starting to feel a little better then all of a sudden the bell rang, it was as if his eardrums were stabbed. His face grimaced in pain.

"Are you ok?" said girl's voice next to him.

Clark looked up and saw a brown-haired girl with bespectacled chestnut eyes, her hair was in two ponytails and she was wearing a daisy-white dress with high socks. Clark thought she was pretty but he never really spent time around girls his age. She offered him a smile and Clark saw that she was wearing braces too. _She's really cute _Clark thought. Clark felt his eyes heat up and he had the inexplicable instinct too look away. He brought his gaze to the floor and saw two black, slightly smouldering spots expand in the exact middle of his field of vision.

The girl offered her right hand, "My name is Lana, you look kinda sick, are you alright?" Clark wanted to shake hands with her but he couldn't bring his own hands to leave stop covering his ears.

Clark looked at her intently for a moment then looked back down, "Yes, I'm fine, thanks, I need to get to class now." Clark dismissed as he stood up abruptly walked off into his designated classroom.

* * *

Clark sat at his table unable to concentrate, he was almost late to class and he had to sit at a table close to the front. The teacher was explaining something he completely aced months ago and he wasn't really paying attention to the chalkboard. But he did notice that the chalk was smelled really strongly as if it was plugging his nose. His ears were still hearing everything but since it was class period the noise wasn't as loud as it had been earlier and he could relax a little.

Clark heard hushed whispering behind him. Clark perked his ears and concentrated on one particular conversation;

"_Who's the guy at the front_?" said a boy's voice.

"_Which guy? There's loads of guys at the front_." Another boy answered.

"_The guy in the button-up shirt, you know, the guy looking at the ceiling_."

"_Oh, that guy, never seen him before_."

"_Must be from out of town_."

"_Dude looks like a total loner._"

"_Probably is a loser too_." The other boy snorted.

Clark turned his head around to look at the two boys talking about him but he was interrupted by the teacher clearing her throat.

"Clark?" the teacher pointed at him.

"Y-yes sir?" He gingerly replied.

"Could you tell me what the answer to my previous question was?"

Clark looked at the chalkboard and scanned all that was written down, he was about to answer when his vision blurred and all the colours he was seeing seemed to melt at each other. Suddenly he felt as if he was quickly zooming in and out in a haze, he slammed his eyelids shut.

"Well young man?" the teacher prodded.

Clark opened his eyes and saw not his teacher but a skeleton in front of him, he saw his skull, all of his teeth, and his greyish-pink brain. Clark gasped in horror and his own eyes opened and enlarged to full size. He saw his teacher's eyes rolling in their sockets and his heart and lungs pumping inside his ribcage. He could even hear the man's blood flow around his nerves. The man's tongue started moving to say something when the bell signalling halftime of the period rang. The bell seemed louder than before and Clark felt as if he had been hit by a truck on both temples. He swivelled his neck to look at everyone else and he saw the same thing; body parts and skeletons all facing him. He couldn't take it anymore, the sounds that had been assaulting him, the terrifying visions he saw before him was starting to give him a panic attack. His heart was racing with adrenaline. He got up out of his chair and ran out of the classroom, the teacher told everyone to stay put and followed him out. He saw Clark lock himself in a maintenance cupboard.

Jonathan was in town tending to some business. Martha was in the living room of her house watching TV when she heard the phone ring. She rose up to pick it up, "Good morning Martha Kent speaking, how can I help?"

* * *

Clark was sitting down on the floor of the maintenance cupboard with his head buried in his knees and his arms clutched around his legs.

"Clark! Let me in! Open the door, please!" the teacher banged on the door repeatedly and tried to turn and break open the locked doorknob. Clark heard the doorknob rattle, he concentrated his gaze at it and his irises lit up with a tinge of red. The doorknob started to glow red.

The teacher felt the doorknob scold his palms and reflexively released pulled it back, he looked astounded at his hand and the doorknob when he heard a female's voice.

"Hello? Is my son in there?" she asked him, "I'm his mother, we talked on the phone."

The teacher broke out of his daze and exasperated "Hello Mrs. Kent, he's been locked in there for a good half hour now and he's not answering anyone at all."

Clark heard his mother's voice and sat up straight. "Clark, are you alright? What's wrong honey?" her concerned tone was soft and soothing to Clark's shell-shocked ears.

"I can see hear and see everything mom. I can see you through the door." Clark answered in a broken voice. "Go away!" he warned in fear.

Martha knew what was happening, Jor-El told her of Clark's extra-sensory abilities that would manifest themselves as he was exposed to the outside world. Today was his first day alone in public and it happened to be his first day in a busy school, Martha chided herself for not anticipating some of his powers revealing themselves today. Clark was already aware of his strength and speed but he never showed any signs of hearing and seeing beyond what a normal human could.

Martha knelt down in front of the door and moved close to it, she then started in a soft, loving voice "Honey, I want you close your eyes, then I want you to imagine that everything could see and hear is an ocean, can you do that for me?" she asked gently.

"Okay." Clark answered timidly. He closed his eyes and concentrated, he envisioned a sunset-lit stretch of calm, open water. There were no clouds and he could see the sun dip below the horizon in the distance.

"Now I want you to imagine my voice as an island, I want you to focus my voice then want you to swim to the island, nice and slow." Martha continued, "Can you see it? Just hear me and me alone." She soothed.

Clark looked around, he saw a little beach not far off in the distance, and he started swimming towards the beach. When he got to the shore, he saw a tall, handsome man with jet black hair and he was holding hands with a beautiful woman who had silky, ebony hair flowing down her shoulders, the two were standing on a rock leaning against each other while the waves softly caressed the golden sands of the beach. Both the man and woman were smiling contentedly as the magnificent sun reflected on their eyes. Clark thought it was quite odd but he continued to stare curiously at the serene couple in front of him and oddly he felt…at peace, the noise was gone, his vision was crystal clear and everything was all right. He felt relaxed, he felt normal again.

"What do you see Clark?" Martha's voice echoed gently in his head.

"It's, it's…" he paused "…it's beautiful mom." Clark answered happily.

Martha let out a happy sigh. "Do you want to come out now?" she asked tenderly.

Martha saw the doorknob turn and the door slowly swung open. Clark slowly came out of the maintenance cupboard and Martha smiled a motherly smile at him. Clark bent down to hug her mother in a loving embrace, no words were said as small, faint tears flowed down on both of their cheeks.

Clark sat by his lonesome on a far table in the lunch hall. From the whispers and rumours he could hear swirl around him, everyone thought of him as the loner weirdo kid who has was a little taller than everyone his age and they kept talking about his 'anxiety attack' on the first day of school, no one really wanted to talk to him. He was solemn as he ate his sandwich, it tasted great; it was made by his mother after all. A small smile formed on his lips as he thought about his amazing mom and how she was there to him when had his fit a few weeks ago.

* * *

A girl's voice broke him out of his reverie, "Clark? Hi."

The voice was familiar. Clark turned to talk to her, "Oh, hi Lana. Sorry I didn't see you there." he shyly answered. She was there standing close to her with a lunch tray in her hand.

"Um," she nervously looked at the floor, "can I sit here next to you?"

"Oh of course. I have some orange juice if you want some." Clark shuffled to make space on the bench for her. She sat down with her tray. Clark smiled at her and offered her a packet of Sunny-D which she graciously took. Clark remembered at how her mother packed several packets of juice just in case a situation liked this happened. _She was so thoughtful _Clark mused.

"So um, what's up?" Clark began after some moment of awkward silence.

"Uh nothing really, just wanted to sit here. What's up with you?" She answered between sips of juice.

Clark looked at her then looked at his food, "I'm just having lunch."

Lana laughed a little, "So how are you finding school?" she prompted.

"Fine, everything's been easy so far." Clark said nonchalantly. He couldn't as well tell her that he probably knows more than all the other kids. _And teachers._

"Really? Cool." Lana replied.

Clark raised a curious eyebrow at her, she was the first person to give any friendly attention, he felt himself becoming drawn to her; Lana was his first chance at a friend. She smiled at him openly now making him blush ever so slightly.

Clark flashed a full grin at her making her blush in return, "How are you finding it?" he asked.

Lana looked up and pressed a finger to her cheek. "Well there's this one bit of homework I'm really stuck on." She admitted shyly. He found her really cute and he tried to concentrate on his sandwich so she doesn't get creeped out by his staring.

"I can help you if you want." Clark offered warmly.

"Oh no it's fine." She hastily responded.

Clark shot a questioning glance at her, "Really Lana, I don't mind at all, you're the first person to talk to me and I really want to help." He pressed.

Lana hesitated for a second but decided to take him up on his offer after seeing him smile, "Alright, we can compare notes after lunch." She accepted happily, she then furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at Clark's half-eaten sandwich.

"Um Clark?"

"Yes?"

"Your sandwich looks burnt."

* * *

It was late morning above the royal palace of Themyscira, there was not a cloud in sight and the sun was shining down hard, the heat could be felt even in the shade. The God of War and Princess Diana were sparring on a dust-covered field.

Ares has been training an adolescent Diana for some time now, the rigorous all-day schedules consisted of lengthy super-triathlons; running, swimming and flying. Training also consisted of mountain moving exercises in the marble quarries and brutal swordplay in the burning hot sun with minimal water breaks. The training regime was supposed to instil a sense of warrior's mentality, pain tolerance and absolute efficiency and total endurance in the chaos of battle. Ares went about it as a slave driver hell bent on making Diana obey whatever he says, she complained incessantly at first but resulting in more exercise as punishment but she was slowly beginning to effectively gauge her own strength, the carefree and pig-headed child was becoming more and more disciplined and suppressed as the weeks and months rolled by. Ares also noted that as well as Hippolyta's stubbornness, Diana inherited her mother's searing temper. Ares relished the numerous occasions where he would push her too hard leading to her breaking her discipline; thus giving him an excuse to reprimand her. Ares' favourite punishment involved making Diana perform upside down sit-ups in mid-air over a pile of centaur dung for five hours on end or until her arms and legs gave out and she got dunked. The message was simple: show any sign of weakness and you will feel pain.

Ares laughed at the memory from when he ordered her to stretch her arms out and place her sword on her hands, she dropped her sword in a only a minute away from when she was allowed to and Ares punished her severely. Diana hated him, hated everything about his stupid training, and sometimes hated herself for being so powerful and Ares knew it.

He pondered if he could use that hate, and he knew very well how to trigger her off.

Ares was attacking Diana with two daggers in each hand, she was wearing silver vambraces on her arms with no offensive weapons to retaliate. Ares was teaching her how to deflect blows in the event she was disarmed, despite of her earlier difficulties the young Princess took to combat training like a baby shark in water, her powers and instincts meant she was well-tailored to grow up as a warrior. She was learning fast. She was a natural in the arena.

"Princess, you are too slow!" Ares teased as he slashed at her.

Diana said nothing as she blocked the slashes and dodged out of the way, ready for another onslaught. Ares gritted his teeth,

"If that was your idea of an evasion Princess, it was not good enough!" He snarled as he charged at her, she moved to parry a blow but Ares batted her hand away and slapped her, making her stumble.

"Pathetic!" he admonished, turning his back at her as she straightened herself.

Ares charged at her again, this time coming at her from all angles at high rates, he wanted to create a series of slashes meant for the throat and midsection. Diana instinctively moved back, she ducked and swerved as she parried thrust after thrust, but Ares' physical dominance won out, Diana was late to react for one slash and Ares took advantage, again breaking through her defence and hitting her in the ribcage with the hilt of his right dagger. Diana grimaced and fell.

Diana hit the ground facing downwards with her eyes in the dirt. Ares laughed at her mockingly.

"You are weak! You stain my name by being my so-called student!" he cackled, he then moved to pick up Diana by her hair and pulled her face close.

"You are less than Amazon, you belong in the ground, Princess." He scoffed. "You are no better than clay and mud you were born from." He taunted chillingly. He knew so well how to anger her.

Diana's sapphire eyes flared and her face contorted in anger, she's had enough, she brought her knee up to kick at Ares's stomach, momentarily winding him as he bent down in stunned pain, Diana moved fast and swung a hard uppercut, impacting the god of War squarely on his large nose and making it bleed. Diana flew off back to the palace.

Ares laughed at himself, he got what he wanted, and when he looked into her eyes a moment ago he saw rage, pure, unbridled rage in its most naked form. He is the God of War and he was enticed at what he could turn that rage into, he only knew too well how to take advantage of anger and violence. She had the potential to be the greatest weapon of war he ever held, Zeus and Olympia be damned she will! Once she lets hear anger define her Ares will have her under his thumb.

* * *

Scrolls, scrolls, scrolls and more scrolls. Hippolyta was working through a bottomless pile of legislation, petitions, decrees and the all the other things a monarch must immerse oneself in order to effectively run a nation, even for a country as small and secluded as Themyscira. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. Why was she stressed? She and her sisters are all immortal and would have nothing less than the end of time as the only real deadline. A part of her was thinking that Ares' presence on the island was the catalyst for her stress. She sat up and sighed herself back to reading _Petition 1995: We want to utilise the purple ray for-_

She was interrupted by a loud bang, she put the scroll down to investigate the source of the disturbance and found Diana's sword sticking out through a wall from the inside of her room. She opened the door and found Diana sitting on the floor, her head was buried in her knees and her arms were clasped around her legs. Instantly the politician from a minute ago gave way to the concerned mother as Hippolyta bent down next to her and gently laid a hand on her right shoulder.

"Daughter, what is the matter?" she asked with a gentle voice.

"I hate him!" Diana blurted "He is a rat swine and the underbelly of Tartarus is too good for the likes of him!" she added, her usually melodic voice laced with malice.

Hippolyta exhaled, her worries were endless about how Ares was treating her daughter, even though she could survive quite a beating she was still young and her constitution was still developing. Diana's words of venom echoed the own words she said thousands of years ago.

"Daughter, he is the god of war, and it is in his very being of existence to bring anger and give rise to hate." Hippolyta tenderly explained. "He is a man, Diana, Men cannot be trusted, men bring destruction and strife to any land they set forth upon, even Themyscira. You have to resist him, do not let the evil of his ways poison what we have taught you."

Diana remembered all the times her mother tucked her into bed as a child, all the times she read him ancient Greek stories and all the other times her sisters showed her nothing but affection. She realised that Ares is trying to destroy all of it. She won't let him.

"I will mother." she replied.

"Diana, I am your mother and Philippus and the others are your sisters. We love all of each other and we love you no matter what Ares says or does. We live in peace because of that love that we share between us. And your own love for me and your own sisters is stronger than whatever abilities Ares has you practice. "

Diana broke out of her sulking and looked inquisitively at her mother with those beautiful eyes of hers, "Mother, why are men so hateful? Surely not all men are like Ares, you said yourself that I must learn how to love my sisters as I would myself. Why can't men grasp that? Is it so hard for men to love others as they would themselves too? "

Hippolyta closed her eyes and exhaled. Diana was too naïve and trusting for her own good she thought, she never went through the hell Hippolyta and the rest did and her soul was the purest out of everyone on the island. Hippolyta and the other Amazons never told her of what Heracles did, no, she needed shielding from all that pain. Hippolyta never expected her to ask such demanding questions at such a young age but the Wisdom of Athena was one of her gifts and defined her as much as the strength, flight and invulnerability.

It was time, there was to be no more shielding and Diana would learn the truth, she needed to know why the Amazons must never align themselves with men.

"Daughter, I want you to listen to me…"

* * *

_**A/N:**__ A__ great point was brought up in a review of chapter three. Despite Ares' machinations Diana thanks to her family's example has the wisdom and kindness to know what is right and wrong, even from a young age. That's one of her greatest strengths and it just so happens Clark is the same way, one of the things that make the two so homogenous. But in my opinion, while the Amazons are pure at heart in their beliefs of love and kindness I think that they're hypocritical of themselves with their blind and prejudiced mistrust of men. That is where Athena's gift comes in for Diana as she realises that. Tolerance is a character aspect that will be further elaborated on in the next chapter._

_These chapters at first might seem slow, but in this AU I feel that character building is necessary due to the storyline I have in mind. To better reflect the plot I have altered the story summary as of this point. I genuinely appreciate all the feedback, especially when it gives me a chance to openly opinionate. =D. Next few updates will come quick._


	5. Chapter 5

"…and now, do you understand why we as a nation must be weary of men, Princess?"

Diana was utterly mollified, all of the colour seemed to have drained from her radiant face as she listened attentively to Hippolyta's brutally vivid history lesson, all told from first-hand experience. She felt so sorry for all her sisters for having to undergo such terror. Hippolyta described the ordeal to her in all of its gruesome, merciless detail. Diana recalled how Hippolyta was staring into a cold nothingness as she described day after day of atrocities. Diana could barely imagine at how her mother's face looked like when she was actually living through it.

Diana felt her stomach churn unstoppably and her spine shudder like leaves in the wind. It was abhorrent, all of it. Vile. Despicable. Sickening. Inhumane. It was everything evil. And it happened to everyone she loved, at the hands of a demigod. Someone like Ares. Her childhood eagerness to learn gave way to rage and fury as she played out a specific scenario in her unfortunately, very imaginative head, but she was feeling too sorry for her mother to even begin to feel the need for vengeance.

"_I kneeled, screaming in a cage made out of the Amazons' own weapons, the cage was my only respite, I was only in there since Heracles was 'recuperating'. But while I was in there I was forced to watch his minions violate everyone I loved, defile everything I valued all front of me and in my own palace_. _I hurt but I did not cry, for the tears have given way to the leakage of my own soul."_

The two were sitting on the foot of Diana's bed as she looked compassionately at her mother, her strong, stern but understanding mother, she was the one Diana was supposed to be leaning to for comfort and she cannot believe the things that happened to her.

Diana sensitively asked her, "How were you saved mother?"

Hippolyta offered a minute smile, "The gods heard my prayers, I prayed to them to save us, I worshipped them silently when I was on my back, I pleaded, I begged. I promised to devote myself to them every waking moment for the rest of my life if they brought me and your sisters out of such misery."

Hippolyta sighed, and continued, "They heard me, they heard my cries. I closed my eyes one night, and I thought it was all over and my soul was finally crossing the Styx but I woke up in a white room with Zeus and Hera watching over me. They came to rescue us, they gave us immortality and a paradise secreted from Man's World as 'penance' for what we went through by the hands of Lord Zeus' favourite son, whom he held in high esteem."

Diana hugged Hippolyta tight and whispered softly "I'm sorry for what you went through mother."

"It's past Diana, but the lesson we learned are what protects us from any outside influences meant to cause harm to us. Zeus and Hera saved us and we owe everything to Olympus." Hippolyta affirmed.

Diana couldn't help but identify the disdain in Hippolyta's voice when she said the word _men. _Her inquisitive demeanour returned, "Mother, isn't Zeus a man?"

"Of course Diana, why must you ask?"

"You just said that all men cannot be trusted, be it Heracles or otherwise, therefore why must we worship a man?"

Hippolyta gave Diana and admonishing glare, "Zeus and the gods of Olympus are not men in the same breadth as Heracles is, Zeus is the immortal King of Olympus and he has been for thousands of years, even before I was born. Heracles is but a mortal, and he is rotting in the Underworld. Zeus and Hera decreed us not to seek revenge against Heracles as he would be punished in his own way. He saved us out of sincere kindness and for that we worship his pantheon."

Diana pondered Hippolyta's words. She just said that all men are evil and bent on domination, _but we worship the gods and goddesses of Olympus all the same? _She wondered if Zeus saved the Amazons not out of kindness, but for something else. Hippolyta noticed her furrow her eyebrows.

"Mother, is Zeus is a prideful god is he not?"

"Yes, he is, but one does not become the King of the Gods without self-confidence and pride."

Diana squinted her eyes as she inwardly questioned her mother's justifications of Zeus, Athena's gift forbade her from doing anything less.

"Well if he is a prideful god, what if he only decided to offer the Amazons salvation not out of sincere desire to do so, but to save face due to his son Heracles, whom as you said he is proud of; when he stained the name of Olympus by virtue of his actions against us?" **Little did she nor Hippolyta knew it but Diana hit the nail on the head**.

Hippolyta's face contorted in shock, "Princess! We must not question the motives of the beings which gave us everything we have! Zeus, Hera and the rulers of Olympus have benevolence flowing through them! Rid your tongue and your mind of such blasphemous accusations! I will not have my own daughter and Princess doubting the very beings which gave her life, do you understand?" she angrily scolded.

Diana drew back from her and looked straight down at the marble floor. "I'm sorry mother, I was out of line. I didn't mean to ask such offensive questions." She backtracked.

"Good, keep it that way. I, you and the all other Amazons live because of them." Hippolyta got up and turned to walk to the door, making sure to blow out the candles as she did so.

Hippolyta told Diana of the truth about her birth years ago as soon as she realised that she was different, in that instance it was when she accidentally destroyed a few of her own toys due to her strength. Despite Hippolyta's wishes, Diana had one more question to ask regarding the gods:

"Mother?"

Hippolyta looked back, "Hmm?"

"You will agree that men are evil by nature of being and that will never change in any case, correct?"

"Absolutely." Hippolyta predicated. "What is it you want to know?"

"Well…" Diana started tentatively, "…what if when the gods breathed life into the clay model that came to be me, they saw it fit to make me male instead of female? Would I be a wicked and malignant creature that all men are?"

"Princess," Hippolyta exasperated with a sigh, making sure to emphasize the feminine noun. "Do not waste Athena's gift on such impertinent and inconsequential questions." She chided. "Good night, my little sun, moon and stars." She softly added as she cupped Diana's cheek and then walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

* * *

Diana couldn't get herself to sleep. She has been lying awake for the past hour thinking about Heracles, Ares, Zeus, and Olympus. In addition she was contemplating everything her mother said, especially the way she answered her last question. Despite everything that happened to the Amazons she just simply couldn't accept that all men were an evil disease incapable of love. She was certain that if she was a boy instead of a girl she would still be the person she was now, and there must be men out there that had mothers much like Hippolyta and people around them to teach them how to love. For all the evil there must be at least one man or one male child out there that was like her? Someone who was different, born in the wake of tragedy but free of any prejudice.

_Prejudice_: that was the concept that her mind was revolving around. By definition prejudice is inconceived notion without all the adequate facts and her mother and her sisters were casting racial prejudgement on men because of their past. Hippolyta always taught her to forgive, but never to forget, it was one of the pillars on which Amazonian society was based on and how they have lived in peace among each other for thousands of years. They didn't forget but it was clear her mother has not forgiven what Heracles did to her and the Amazons either. She realised that the Amazons' unrequited hate for men is wrong. Her mother might be correct about them, all men might be the root cause of all evil, Ares the God of War is a man after all; but if Amazonian and the Queen's teachings are worth the scrolls they're written on it's simply not right to surmise that every single man in Man's World is an avatar of discord based on the actions of one. Blindingly accepting so is not what she knew in her heart as righteous.

Diana's mind went back to Ares, and her anger at him for the things he said to her in their previous training session. She wisely comprehended that Ares was who he was not because he was a man, but rather because it was his constitution, if Ares was a female there would absolutely no difference. Diana revised Ares' last words to her, they were venomous, yes, but Ares was a cunning strategist and his words had a purpose. Ares wanted her to give in to her anger, her hate, and become someone that he could use in his quest to attain power in the mortal plane by channelling such powerful emotions into the violence which feeds him. Diana came to conclude that once she allows Ares to let malice overrule what she believes is right and take reign of her actions it's only a matter of time before there was no amount of love in the world that could turn her back; Diana would stoop no lower than Heracles.

With a strengthened resolve, Diana finally closed her eyes and settled peacefully into the night.

It was the next training session with Ares, Diana has just finished her sprints and she and Ares were once again under the beating hot Themysciran sun practicing defensive combat moves. This time the two were sparring with dulled swords. Ares noticed that Diana was more controlled, more focused, and she was unsettlingly calm. Usually by this stage Diana would be quite agitated and Ares would again have some fun getting a rise out of her, but today Diana seemed to take everything in stride.

Diana blocked Ares' right thrust, Ares drew his sword back to slash upwards and Diana stepped back to avoid it. Ares growled, but Diana's face showed no emotions, her eyes were just watching Ares' sword to try and read his next attack. Ares feinted a high but swiftly swept his sword low, hitting Diana on the side of her leg, Ares then brought a punch with his other arm to Diana's chest and she fell to the ground. Ares huffed dismissively.

Ares saw the opportunity to anger Diana again, "Still falling for the old tricks Princess? You would be dead by now."

Diana got up and resumed her defensive stance, "Lesson learnt, Ares, I'm ready to commence again."

Ares' growled as his attacks started coming faster and faster, left, right, high, low and Diana was absorbed in concentration as she gracefully dodged and blocked all of them. Ares' face was one of consternation, the child was quite impressive.

Seeing an opportunity, Ares moved his off-hand as if to strike a punch, Diana saw it and manoeuvred to block his hand with her sword, Ares instead caught her sword in his grip and pulled it causing Diana to stumble forward and she met Ares' knee in her stomach. Diana dropped a knee as she grimaced in pain.

"Princess, there is no wonder Heracles was able to subdue all the Amazons when even the most powerful one is this easy." Ares disdainfully scoffed.

Diana took a deep but silent breath to calm herself, she would not let him get what he wants. She looked up at Ares and shockingly gave him a smile. "Heracles didn't fight us, he fooled us. That will never happen again. Let's continue" she said with no inflection of ill-feeling.

Ares knitted his eyebrows, _what?!_ Diana should be gritting her teeth in irritation, but when Ares looked into her eyes he could not see nor feel the usual hate flowing from her, what happened to the stubborn and ill-tempered child?

Ares moved forward with speed and power, he wanted Diana to release all that pent-up resentment that he knows she's bottling inside, she must be seething under the surface!

As always, Ares developed a back-up plan with a significant change in tactics when his initial one failed.

"You have been very patient and impressive today Princess." Diana didn't answer, Ares continued "In fact, I have been so impressed by your restraint that I've decided to reward you."

"Reward me?" Diana asked nonplussed.

"Yes." Ares grinned, "Would you like to know what your reward is?"

Diana looked at him curiously, "Alright?"

Ares smiled, "Well, your reward…" he dropped his sword "…is the opportunity to hit me as much as you please, I have been a most unfair mentor, and it would be only fair if you had the chance to retaliate. Wouldn't you agree Diana?"

Diana raised her eyebrows, she didn't expect this, she did loathe Ares but she also knew that Ares was trying to get her to embrace her anger, which he could take advantage of.

Diana turned her back to Ares, "No thanks." She said flatly.

Ares exasperated in frustration. "What do you mean?! This is not an opportunity to be taken lightly Princess! I am giving you the chance to unleash all of your rage, your fury, I know you detest me for all I've said to you and I know you're scratching for a chance to inflict pain on me! Release that anger Princess, show me how much of an Amazon you are!" he desperately tempted.

Diana looked back at him and grinned, "You are correct Ares, you are a hateful god and your words are poisonous, but I forgive you for all that you have said to me, it's in your nature. And I must thank you for being a demanding teacher."

Ares flushed in annoyance, he did not like the taste of defeat. Diana's sapphire eyes showed absolutely no rage nor any desire to act out in violence.

"What?! You show me forgiveness?! What did I tell you about showing weakness? You will taste my fury you mewling wench!"

Ares was enveloped in a cloud of red smoke and a bright light, when the smoke cleared he stood there in all his demonic battle armour, sword and axe in hand.

"Let's see if you forgive for this!" he maniacally shouted as he moved to strike at Diana, who held her arms up to protect herself. Suddenly, another white flash of light enveloped their eyes and out materialised a beautiful blonde woman with green eyes and an ethereal sparkle. It was Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Ares' counterbalance, Ares froze on the spot.

Diana bowed to her reverently, "Greetings, Lady Aphrodite."

"No need to bow child, I'm not Hera." She light-heartedly admonished with an enchanting smile. "If anything I should bow to you, not a great many can fluster Ares like that."

Diana blushed shyly at Aphrodite's praise, Aphrodite just laughed her musical laugh.

"Come now Ares, remember we cannot act out against the mortal plane directly, law of balance and all that. And Princess, I think you will need a new mentor now, I don't think Ares here will be willing to train you anymore and anyway you have shown us in Olympus that you are perfectly in control of your powers. Zeus and Hera send their regards."

The two disappeared in another flash of blinding light, Diana let out a sigh of relief, not only for Aphrodite saving her but because from now on she knows that Philippus would be her fighting coach, she was quite fond of the General and she was excited to come under her tutelage; one of Diana's favourite stories she always begged her mother to recant to her was how Philippus dismantled Queen Hippolyta in the arena on her birthday. Diana lifted off the ground and flew towards the royal palace, she was all smiles as she went to tell her mother the good news.

* * *

Clark and Lana were hanging out on their favourite table in the canteen. He was reading and she was trying hard not to stare at him, specifically his cerulean eyes as they moved side to side as read. They have been the closest of friends since that first day in middle school when she decided to sit with him for lunch. That was two years ago and nothing much has changed since regarding Clark's social status in the teenage food chain. He was smart, exceedingly smart and from a young age, when children as old as him were having trouble stringing together a correct sentence he was already dissecting Dr Seuss, and by the time they caught up to that stage he's already analysing Homer's Iliad and working out the angle of a hypotenuse, without a calculator. His parents were smart as well but nothing too out of the ordinary so he really didn't know if his brains were in some part inherited from his real parents; Jon and Martha told him he was adopted but nothing more, and when he asked about his abilities they just told him he was special. Therefore he always chalked up his intelligence due to his avid love for reading, a characteristic innateness to find solutions to problems, his farm-boy work ethic that his mom and dad drilled in him; and their insistence for him to push himself as hard as he can. Martha and Jon were fascinated by Clark's intellect, he gobbled up the curriculum like he did a nice turkey dinner: _He licked the plate clean and demanded more_. After they taught Clark everything they could they found themselves buying books and educational material containing progressively more advanced topics since Clark had a propensity to completely absorb it all. They knew Kryptonians were highly evolved, _it's like he has had a perfect, eidetic memory_ they thought.

And it didn't really diminish his motivation to excel when for some reason it really impressed Lana.

But for all his perfect grades he was still labelled as the dork-weirdo-loner-anxious kid, nope scratch that, it was even worse, he was the dork-weirdo-loner-anxious _nerd _kid_. _His social standing was very bottom-rung indeed, nevertheless Clark didn't mope around much about what the other kids said about him, he was perfectly fine in the company of Lana. She was nice to him, and she was a really cute girl. But he couldn't help but hear all the whispers, wise cracks and running jokes all centred on him. _Him and his geeky girl-buddy_.

"Whatcha reading Clark?" Lana finally asked.

"Oh nothing, just some Plato." Clark replied nonchalantly.

"Potato? You farm guys." She joked.

Clark chuckled, "Not potato, Plato."

Lana returned a sweet laugh, "I know. Who is he?"

"He was a Greek philosopher, he was really smart."

"Not as smart as you."

Clark warmed, and his cheeks started to turn a little red, altogether with the heat in his eyes he was still trying to learn how to control. Not wanting to burn Lana, he abruptly looked away, inadvertently focusing his gaze on a nearby boy's behind before quickly cooling his vision down.

"Umm…uh, thanks Lana." He stammered.

Lana smiled back at him, he was going to open his mouth to change the subject when he felt a tap on his head.

"You!"

Clark turned round to talk to the voice, "Hello?"

The boy he accidentally looked at was angry, and he brought his friends with him. "I know what you did you freaking dork!"

"Huh? What did I do?"

"You think you're funny?! Huh dork? Let's see if you find this funny asshole!" The boy pried Clark's book from his hands and started tearing out the pages one by one and started throwing them at Clark, who just stood there. The boy was disappointed at Clark's indifference, and decided to drag Clark up by the scruff of his neck and throw him on the ground.

"Hey!" Lana shouted, "He didn't do anything!"

"Oh yeah? Didn't do anything my ass!" the boy retorted. "Why don't you go make me a sandwich?"

"He didn't do anything!" Lana desperately reiterated, bringing snickers among the boy's friends.

"Shut up you little bitch. He hit me when your ugly face wasn't looking. "

Lana gasped, her bespectacled eyes were welling up at the sides. Clark's face flushed with anger. The boy and his friends laughed at them. Clark stood up face to face with the older boy who had a smug grin on his face. Clark tightened his jaw and clenched his hands into fists.

The boy anchored his feet and shoved Clark with all of his weight, the shove would've toppled an average man but Clark didn't budge an inch. The boy's smug expression change into one of stupefaction.

Clark stared daggers at the boy, "I don't know what I did to you, but know I wished I did. You don't talk to Lana that way."

"Why? Is she your girlfriend?" the boy teased mockingly, "Nah, I thought you were a fag?"

Clark snapped and anger flowed through his veins and he used his speed to bring a swift right-handed punch to the boy's face. The boy recoiled and fell to the floor, motionless. His friends gasped in shock at Clark's ability to knock out their ringleader in less than the blink of an eye. All the other kids in the canteen gathered around them, all laughing, whispering, shouting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and some were even recording with their fruity smartphones. Clark was getting ready to defend himself, he knew they couldn't really hurt him at all but they might want to hit Lana, and he was having none of that.

A teacher broke through the crowd of teenagers, he saw Clark and Lana surrounded by kids and the boy laying on the floor face down.

"You two! In the principal's office now! And can someone call an ambulance?" the teacher rasped as he voiced his displeasure very loudly.

* * *

Clark sat quiet on the living room couch, he was looking at the floor with his parents standing over him glaring. They were called to the school when they heard Clark got in a fight with an older pupil during lunch. They were obviously concerned for Clark, but more concerned for the other kid, they knew how strong Clark was when he didn't hold back. When they got to the school they learnt that the boy had to be hospitalized for a broken jaw and a concussion. They were extremely disappointed in Clark, they always taught him to turn the other cheek when situations like these arise since he can cause a lot more harm than a normal teenager. Jonathan and Martha talked to the principal, who was not at all happy about fighting taking place at his school, and they decided it was best to take Clark home to discipline him since he didn't talk at all about the incident when he was in the principal's office, all they knew at this point was from eyewitness accounts that Clark and Lana were sitting on a table then a few minutes later a boy was bleeding on the floor.

"So young man? What have you got to say for yourself?" Martha started with a stern voice. Clark still didn't answer as he had been doing the whole ride home. "Clark Jerome Kent!"

Clark looked up at Martha, "What?"

Jon joined, "What do you mean what? You hit that boy!"

"He started it!" Clark argued. Then he looked back at the floor.

"Look at us Clark." Martha commanded, Clark promptly obeyed.

"That is not an excuse to punch anyone, you very well know that he couldn't hurt you." Explained Jon.

"I know he can't." acknowledged Clark.

"Then why did you hit him?" Jon countered.

"Because he said things to Lana dad!" Clark hastily blurted, Jon and Martha's scolding faces melted to understanding when they heard Clark's reason for acting out.

Martha sat next to Clark and put a hand over his', "What did he say to Lana?" she asked in a soft voice.

"I don't want to say."

"Clark?" she gently pressed.

"He said mean things that hurt Lana mom," Clark's voice broke as he continued "and when I saw Lana cry that's when I knew I was hurt too. I couldn't let him get away with hurting my only friend. I'm sorry dad, I know I'm not-" Clark choked on the lump in his throat.

Jon and Martha understood, Clark's intentions to defend those close to him filled them with pride, they were still slightly disappointed at him but they couldn't be angry at him for standing up for Lana.

"Oh Clark." Martha gently whispered as she hugged him.

Jon put a steady hand on Clark's shoulder, "Son, we understand why you did what you did but you can't let it happen again, that boy was seriously hurt and it could've been much worse, you're not-"

Clark angrily interjected, "Because I'm not what dad? Cause I'm not normal?"

Jon's tone softened, "It's not that you're not normal Clark, it's just that-"

"What dad? Because I'm different from the other kids? Is that it?" he interrupted once more.

Jon exhaled, "Son, don't be like that, you're no different from them."

"Yes I am! Every day I hear what they say about me, they think I can't but I can! They call me names, they call Lana names, I hear it all! I'm not normal dad and I never will be! I'm not even your real son!" he cried in an outburst of emotion.

Martha sighed as she pulled Clark closer to him, she looked at Jon and gave him a knowing nod, Jon knew what that nod meant, they needed to tell him more about his real origins now, they didn't have to tell him everything just yet but they knew it would help him if he knew why he was different.

"You're right Clark, you are different, but we love you as our own son all the same, and you're special." Martha stated.

"What do you mean mom?"

"Well Clark, you're not…" Martha closed her eyes "…you're much more than a human. You're not from Earth."

Clark was shocked, he thought he was going to faint. "I'm-" he faltered "I'm an alien?"

"Yes, that's why you are who you are." Jon added.

"Is that why I'm so smart?"

"Clark, you have all these abilities and everything because you're not from Earth. But you the person are who you are because you have a loving heart and that's regardless of how you were born. Even if we're not your biological parents we love you as much as we possibly can, and that will never change." Martha lovingly replied. Jon joined in the hug and the three just sat on the couch in a family embrace.

"Who wants ice cream?" Martha finally asked after a while.

"I do!" Clark happily answered.

Jonathan gingerly cleared his throat, he was preparing an excuse for when Martha finds that all the ice cream in the freezer she bought yesterday has magically disappeared, and he couldn't blame it on Clark since he was at school all day. _Damned i__ce cream bandits._


	6. Chapter 6: Higher Callings

**"Higher Callings I"**

A ship with the House of El crest emblazoned on the damaged front panel passed by the beautiful yellow planet headed for Earth, it was only a matter of weeks, days even when it would arrive. Its internal navigation system locked onto the tracking beacon of Kal-El's ship.

* * *

The Planet Saturn, beautiful, elegant with its two rings, golden, magnificent in all its gaseous glory. A seventeen year old Clark Kent was gazing at the cosmos through the telescope in his barn loft hangout, this was his favourite pastime that didn't involve Lana Lang, his closest and best friend, although he wasn't so sure if she looked at him that way anymore, thinking about it he was pretty sure spending time here in the barn loft was now his favourite pastime regardless of Lana. Over the years she has grown into a beautiful young woman. Gone were the braces, the glasses and the shy, geeky character, she has a lot more friends than Clark now, just one of the perks that comes with being probably the prettiest girl in school and she spent less and less time with Clark because of it. He and Lana drew more and more apart as they scaled the late stages of adolescence.

On the other hand, Clark was still Clark, he was still the nerd he was all those years ago, but he himself has grown into quite a dashing young man, he was well over six feet already and his shoulders like the rest of him were broad and strong, not that anybody knew however because he never had the chance to expose his body at any pool parties like all the other boys; he was a nerd through and through, he wore large sweaters and slacks to school whatever the weather, his hair was unkempt. When you look at him all you the only thing he had going for him was that he was the smartest guy in school, nothing more. You would never see his cerulean blue eyes in all their full glory because in this superficial world you would dismiss him as nothing the instant you saw him.

Clark looks back into his telescope and observes Saturn once more before lying back on the sofa he placed in the loft. He was thinking about Lana, or rather his feelings towards her, he used to think that Lana was just a friend, but his feelings of affection grew when they spent more of their early youth with each other. He remembered all the times they were alone together, strawberry picking during the summer, walking along one of the many lakes, and the way her brown eyes always looked like glassy pieces of milk chocolate in the twilight sun. He admitted to himself that he fell in love with her a long time ago, but every single time he wanted to tell her about his feelings, he would either experience a serious bout of nervousness and uncertainty or Lana would tell him something about him being his best friend only and she was content with what they have. Once she said that he never had the nerve to bring himself to admit anything to her.

He never brought Lana here in his personal alcove, this place was piece of his heart and himself that he would never reveal to anyone who saw him as just a friend. This loft with its telescope, MP3 player softly filling the easy air with _Lifehouse,_ the well-used acoustic guitar, the young-adult fiction, philosophy, history and astronomy books, the random pieces of art he dabbled in and other memorabilia was a complete personification of Clark Kent: the alien teenager who never fit in, but if you really knew him you would know how special and unique he is. A far cry from the awkward farm-boy who sits at the back of the class. Only those who knew who he really was underneath his nerdy, aloof but polite exterior were allowed here. Right now that would be him and his parents, this loft is a side of him that nobody else would ever know, not even Lana. He was beginning to accept there was no-one out there like him that could understand and love him for what he is. He never doubted that his parents loved him very much, but it's not the heart-stopping romantic love that he could only experience from someone that walked the same path as him.

Clark wasn't the guy high school girls paid attention to nor fell in love with, no, they fell in love with the first guy to bring a car to school or the football captain or something rad or awesome like that. Lana used to be impressed by his intelligence but it wore off, and he had nothing to offer her but his nerdy but nice personality, _the nice guy, not interesting, but nice_. And if he couldn't tell her his real feelings he was not about to tell her he was an alien. He was the wallflower who you barely noticed coming out of the woodwork, he never showed any emotion, he minded his own business and he was quite distant to all of his classmates and teachers. You would never know who he really was unless you actually managed to hold a year's worth of meaningful conversations with him nonstop. But like any other teen, Clark needed an outlet for his emotions and he took to writing as the main medium in which he can express who he is. He was an aspiring writer, but he wanted to be a journalist, he knew words were worth a thousand pictures if you knew how to get people to open their eyes. When people read a persuasive piece of writing they don't bother judging the man who wrote it based on their appearance, no-one will care what Clark Kent wore, how he looked like or any of all the superficialities when they read what he has to write. For him writing would be the only way for him to get noticed.

That was the main thing with Clark, he wanted to get noticed, to be popular, as shallow as it may seem he wanted to be one of the boys who girls flocked around and hung out with. He wanted to be more than the nice guy. Teenagers are teenagers and even if Clark wasn't a human his emotions worked the same, he wanted the kind of affection that his parents are not capable of giving, he wanted a girl to love him, and Lana was the only girl in his mind but she has effectively friend-zoned him.

* * *

Clark walked through the halls of Smallville High, effortlessly blending in with all the other pupils. He noticed a girl trying to hand out flyers and he took one, the girl smiled at him and he smiled back. He thought what it would be like if the girl was smiling at him because she wanted to, not because he's the first guy to actually pick up a flyer. On the flyer there was a picture of a heart-shaped disco-ball on the front. He read it,

_Under the Mistletoe_

_Smallville Senior's Ball_

_Main Gym_

_8:30pm onwards. December 3rd.__  
_

Clark looked around, he hadn't noticed but the same flyer was posted on many lockers, bulletin boards and doors. He never noticed it before and it must be a big event. _As was all senior events _he thought to himself. He looked at the date, close to the holiday, he had to admit it was a great day for the senior ball. For a second he wondered what it would be like if he actually went, then chuckled to himself, there is no way in hell he's going to the senior ball. He had many reasons: he doesn't like the PDAs that comes with going to these things, no-one would notice him, and he hasn't got a date. This event would just be a reminder of how lonely he's feeling right now.

His thoughts snapped when he saw Lana and her friends approach him, wearing a huge smile on her face.

"Clark!" she called in her cheerful voice. Her friends broke off to chat amongst themselves.

Clark smiled and waved. "Hey what's up Lana? You look great!"

Lana felt cheeks heat up slightly at Clark's compliment. "Nothing much, I was actually looking for you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen you in a while, thought you were dead."

Clark rolled his eyes. "I'm touched."

"Just kidding," she laughed "How are you? I haven't seen you in days, weeks even."

"Oh, I was-" he stammered "I was just busy with coursework."

"Really?"

"Yes."

She raised her eyebrows. "What coursework?"

"Something to do with creative writing." He deadpanned. He wasn't lying though, even with his expansive knowledge he buried himself in his school work, which were mostly creative and constructive subjects, leaving no time for anything extracurricular or social.

"Cool. I guess." She replied with a shrug. Clark didn't fail to take notice that she would've asked what specific work he was doing if they had this conversation a year ago.

Awkward seconds passed, well, awkward for him. "So how's life Lana?" he asked.

"It's great! I made on the cheerleading team!" she exclaimed as her face beamed. Clark raised his eyebrows in congratulations. "I was just talking to Whitney." She added.

Clark had a quizzical look on his face, "Whitney?"

Lana's eyebrows quirked. "You know, Whitney Fordman?"

Clark shrugged. He really doesn't know who this person is, and something is telling him that Whitney Fordman is somewhat well known throughout the school.

"You don't know the captain of the basketball team?"

_Ah there we go, probably the most popular guy in school _he thought. "What's basketball?" he sarcastically quipped.

"Haha, funny," she mock laughed. "If you must know Whitney is the captain of the guys' basketball team."

_I heard you the first time._ Clark squinted his eyes and tilted his head."They have a girl as the captain of the guys' basketball team?"

"What do you mean a girl?" she realised what he was implying. "Shut up! Whitney is a perfectly okay boy's name!" she asserted.

Seeing her irritation, he decided to needle her. "Oh of course, so is Britney. Whitney and Britney, the manliest names in the universe. Perfectly okay guy's name." This jesting, playful side of him was a facet of his personality he never showed anyone else but Lana and his parents.

Lana crossed her arms, she felt the need to elaborate. "It is! And he happens to be very good at basketball, he tells me he's the fastest guy in the team."

The image of him easily winning a foot race against Whitney in front of the whole school made him grin a little as it crossed his mind.

"Yup, I can just imagine it now, 'At guard, for the Smallville Crows…Whitney!'". He teased, at twinkle in his eye.

Lana growled, "Shut up!"

Clark grinned sheepishly and he put his hands up. "Alright alright."

She exhaled. "What's that in your hand?"

Clark looked at the flyer in his hand, "Um, A flyer for the senior ball."

"Oh? Why do you have it on you? Thinking of going?" she teased hopefully.

"No."

"Why not?" she pleaded in disappointment.

"Because it's not for me." He explained flatly.

"Of course it is! It's for seniors and you're a senior!"

Clark's tone remained. "No, it's for popular seniors. As in like you and Courtney or whatever his name is."

"It's Whitney" she frowned. "And you need to have some fun Clark!"

"Of course I have fun," he corrected "that just isn't my type of fun."

"Well I'm gonna be there, and I'd like it if you were there too."

Clark smiled with a tinge of useless hope. "Are you asking me to be your date Lana?"

Lana shot him down, "No silly, I'm going with Whitney, I'm dating him, well not yet, I assume after the dance we'll go on a few dates."

Clark never showed it, but he was very sad and crestfallen that it wasn't him but that guy that was going with Lana. He tried to mask his feelings with some more crude humour, "Woah, so you're a lesbian?"

"Clark! Shut the hell up about Whitney's name!" she warned with even more agitation which caused him to laugh.

"Did I hear my name?" said a male voice behind Clark. Clark turned around and he saw a blonde boy wearing a red cardigan with the word 'Crows' stylized in cursive on the front, he realised it was probably Whitney himself. _Speak of the devil._ Clark's face became unreadably neutral. Whitney came over to Lana, put his arms around her and kissed her full on the lips. Clark winced, he noticed the dude was chewing gum.

"Hey you." Lana cooed.

Whitney gave her a shameless grin, then he eyed Clark up and down, "So who's your little friend here?"

"Oh, this is Clark." She pointed out. "Clark, this is Whitney, he's my date for the dance." She said with pride.

"Her boyfriend." Whitney declared, with emphasis, then he chewed on his gum.

Lana gave Whitney a questioning look. She didn't see him as her boyfriend yet, he only just asked her to go to the dance.

"Hey. Nice jersey by the way." Clark dryly replied. Whitney chuckled.

Whitney whispered something to Lana's ear which made her giggle. Clark inwardly scowled, he heard what Whitney whispered and he very much wish he didn't.

Clark sighed, "Looks like I'm third wheeling a bit here, I'll see you later Lana, I have a class to get to." He looked at Whitney, "Whitney" He nodded, and then he turned and started walking away.

"Uh okay, think about the ball Clark! See you!" Lana said over Whitney's shoulder. Clark's already disappeared in the sea of students.

"That dude is freakin' weird as hell." Whitney remarked.

Lana palmed his chest. "Yeah, I agree he's a little awkward but he's one of my friends."

"Whatever." Whitney dismissed. "You're pretty." he said as he kissed her again. Clark heard everything.

* * *

Clark walked through the halls aimlessly, _what the hell does Lana see in that guy? _He thought. But Clark knew the answer instantly, he was the captain of the basketball team, he was probably the most revered figure in all of the school, girls must be fawning all over him. He thought back to his musings when he was alone in his loft, he thought back about people never noticing him because he never did anything gossip-worthy, he didn't drive a flashy car, he was not on the team, he wasn't the trendsetting hipster or whatever people did for attention. He was a ghost, and that would probably never change, unless he did something drastic.

He walked past the entrance to the gym changing rooms and saw an announcement posted on the sports bulletin board.

Emergency backup needed:

3rd string PG to ride the bench in next game!

Usual guy got injured!

Try-outs on November 22nd

Clark scratched his chin. The 22nd was in two days and the game would be next week, the day before the dance. What if he attended the try-outs, showed off some of his speed, his strength, extreme jumping ability, got the starting spot, and impressed Lana and all the other cheerleaders? The idea of playing basketball was ridiculous to him but it would get him the attention he was secretly craving in denial. A bulb went off in his head. He picked up a permission slip off the pile stuck to the bulletin board and filled in his details, he was about to go in to the coach's office to hand it in when he noticed that he needed his parent's signature. He sighed to himself in defeat, they would never allow him to partake in such a physical sport because he could seriously hurt people. But on the other hand he's never asked them before and for all he knows they might be supportive of his decision to play sports and 'put himself out there' so to speak. He put the permission slip in his bag and went to class.

Clark stepped off the bus and walked up the long unpaved driveway to his farm. He saw his dad feeding dead trees into a shredder outside the barn and walked towards him.

"Hey dad!" he greeted.

Jonathan stopped what he was doing "Hey son." he greeted back. "How was school?"

"It was fine." Came the standard, flat-toned reply to whenever any parent asked their child how school was.

"Did you see Lana?" Jon asked.

"Yeah."

"How is she?"

"She's fine." Clark said in the same flat tone, he felt the need to add. "She's a cheerleader now."

"That's great." He acknowledged. "Your mother is inside, get yourself something to drink son." He said as as he went back to shredding trees.

Clark looked around, "Dad?"

"Yep?" he replied over the rumble of the shredder.

"I have a permission slip that I want you to sign."

"Permission for what?"

"I want to j-" Clark faltered.

"Want to what?"

"I want to join the team." Clark blurted.

"What team?"

Clark pulled out the permission slip from his bag and answered gingerly, "The basketball team."

Jon turned off the shredder and looked at Clark.

"No."

"Why not?" he quickly fired back.

"You know why not." Jon stated.

"Enlighten me dad." Clark said in a challenging tone.

"Because I said so."

"What? That doesn't work anymore."

Jon dismissed Clark as he walked inside the barn. "Yes, it does. I'm your dad and I say that you can't."

"You're not even my real dad." Clark muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Why can't I join the team?"

Jon explained, "You know exactly why Clark, you're-"

"Different." He bitterly interjected.

"Yes, but don't think for a moment that's a bad thing. You're as normal as you can be."

"I just don't see why I can't join the team."

"Clark, we've been over this, you cannot use your powers for your own betterment. Just because you have them does not mean you can use them for playing basketball, and the other kids will get hurt."

"I just want to try it out."

"Really?"

"I can control them better now," he said regarding his powers. "I just thought it'd be nice to test them out for a change." Clark reasoned weakly and half-heartedly.

"Where did this come from? Why now all of a sudden?" Clark didn't answer, realisation panned across Jon's face. "Is this because Lana's a cheerleader Clark?"

Clark looked guiltily at the floor.

Jon gave Clark a reprimanding expression "It is isn't it? You should know better than using your abilities to impress a girl young man."

Clark's anger was rising. "How can I dad? No-one notices me! I have no friends." Clark said in outburst.

Jon sighed in sympathy, "Then make some, you're a nice guy, talk to some, try and charm them-"

"They all think I'm weird, even Lana." Clark scoffed.

"You're not weird Clark." Jon assured, "I mean sure you're different but you're normal at the same time."

"What does that even mean? I'm always different dad!"

"It means that you are who you are, which is normal. Now I don't want to hear any more about this, no football. That's final."

Clark's eyes flared in anger and he quickly walked to the shredding machine and turned it on. "Normal?! You call this normal?!" The machine rumbled to life.

Jon realised what he was doing and shouted in anguish, "Clark! No!"

Clark glared at his dad and shoved his hand in the feed chute with a stone cold expression on his face, the rattling noise of the sharp blades violently abrading against his fingers resonated in the air.

"Oh my God!" Jon quickly turned off the machine and forcefully pulled Clark's hand out in worried frenzy. "Are you alright? Oh my goodness!" he held out Clark's hand in front of him and worryingly inspected it. He saw nothing, no blood, not even a single scratch.

If Clark was actually normal he would've lost his hand, he'd be screaming out in pain and blood would be splattered everywhere, but nothing happened.

"I'm not normal dad. I never will be. Normal people know who they are and where they belong." Clark uttered with a soft, defeated tone as he sat on the floor.

Jonathan sighed heavily, he knew what he had to do, it was time he knew who he was, there was to be no more secrets from his and Martha's end.

"Clark, come with me."

Clark followed him into the barn, Jon opened a small storage room which Clark thought was filled with useless trash. Jon emptied the room and revealed a small trap door on the floor, Jon pulled the door open and gestured for Clark to go down. He went down the ladder to the barn basement, which he didn't know existed and Jon followed him.

The first thing Clark saw was a dull grey, capsule-shaped craft which had some sort of 'S' in a pentagon shield adorning the front. His eyes opened in amazement.

"What is this?"

"It's the spacecraft we found you in."

"Woah."

Jon chuckled, "I know."

"I was a baby in this?"

"Yes."

"How come I never saw this here before?" Clark queried.

"It has special shielding technology. This thing is millennia more advanced than any machine on Earth. Apparently" Jon explained, it was clear to Clark someone else told him this and he's just repeating it.

Clark walked up to the craft and ran an appraising hand along its exterior skin, he was deeply impressed with the engineering that must've went into designing and making the ship that brought him to Earth. Question after question started popping into his head.

"What does the 'S' stand for?" is the most obvious one he could come up with.

Jon chuckled, "It's not an 'S'."

"What it is then?"

"It's your family crest."

Clark was astounded, "My family crest?"

"Yes."

"How do you know this?" he quickly questioned.

"Someone told me."

"What? There was someone in here with me?"

"Sort of."

Clark gave a bemused look at Jon, Jon opened a drawer and took out a small box which contained a small, rock-shaped thing with the crest at its head.

"What's that?"

"This Clark," Jon started, "along with you, is the answer to 'are we alone in the universe?'." He gave it to Clark, "It's called the Codex."

"The Codex? It looks kinda small compared to this ship."

"Looks can be deceiving Clark." Jon said meaningfully.

Clark smiled at him, "What does it do?"

Jon showed him the small socket outside the ship where the Codex was supposed to be inserted, he instructed Clark on how to insert it and left the basement, leaving Clark to learn about his true origins and come to terms with it on his own.

Clark inserted the Codex into the socket, a whirring noise came out the dormant spaceship and the scanning probe rose up and scanned the environment. It locked on Clark and scanned him.

The hologram projector on the probe deployed and projected two humanoids who Clark recognised had a spitting resemblance to him, they were both tall like him, had striking blue eyes like him, wavy black hair like him and he realised who they were. His mouthed gaped open at who it was. They looked so real, as if they were right there.

The male humanoid spoke first. "Hello, Kal-El." he softly greeted. He and female projection were smiling benignly at him.

"Hello." Clark looked at the man with raised eyebrows. "That's my name?"

"It is your Kryptonian name." the man answered. "I assume that here on Earth you have taken the house name Kent?"

"Yes, uh, my name is Clark, Clark Jerome Kent."

"Ah," the male acknowledged, "that is a good name."

"And you are?" Clark asked.

"My name is Jor-El, this is Lara Jor-El, my wife, we are your-"

"Parents. My biological parents." Clark concluded.

"Yes, we are your mother and father and you are our son, Kal-El."

"Um," Clark moved to try and hug the very realistic projections, only for his hand to go through their bodies. "What?"

Jor-El sighed, "Kal, what you see are just three-dimensional projections of our bodies and our consciousness, I'm afraid we don't exist anymore."

"You don't exist?" Clark questioned in surprise "What do you mean you don't exist?"

"Kal-El. Me, your mother, and all of our race is destroyed along with our home planet, Krypton. You are the last Kryptonian male in the universe." Jor-El solemnly explained.

Clark's was shocked. "What? I don't believe you."

Jor-El closed his eyes and sighed, another holographic projection emulating Krypton's explosion played out beside him. "Krypton's geological core was unstable due to the excessive mining that took place deep within the planet. The House of El tried to stop it, but my case was dismissed." He explained.

Clark gulped, he was still in shock. "The House of El? Is that ours?"

"Yes, of which you are the last vestige of," Jor hesitated "as far as I know." He continued, "On Krypton the House of El was a beacon of science and progression, I tried to show the High Council that the path they were on would lead to Krypton's destruction, but it was all for naught. They dismissed my findings due to their arrogant belief that the Kryptonian god, Rao, would never let any calamity strike Krypton."

"So Rao let this happen?"

"No, we as a race let it happen to ourselves, we had every chance to save Krypton but we didn't. The mining continued and the core exploded. Krypton as of now is no more than dead rocks."

Clark had a pained expression on his face as he buried it in his hands. "How did I survive? Why didn't you come with me?" he demanded.

"When you were born, we designed this craft to house and carry you to a planet we found suitable. We only had mere months to design this spacecraft and it was barely completed. The planet Earth was the most compatible with your physiology. Kryptonians were-" he stopped and reconsidered. "are, they are an advanced race in terms of their level of evolution. You exhibit many similarities to the humans, such as your physical appearance, but your brain is far more advanced than any human's, and a Kryptonian's body cells have the ability to absorb solar radiation and process them for energy. On Krypton under a red sun we exhibited strength greater than an average Earthling, and a lifespan measured in hundreds of Sun-Earth orbit periods."

"So, I will live to be hundreds of years old?"

"Even greater, Kal-El." Jor rectified.

"How? And how can I do all the things I can do?"

Jor-El smiled "Your cells have drunk in the potent radiation and processed them extremely efficiently, here on Earth under a yellow sun you will grow stronger and faster than I can ever imagine, you will exhibit extra-sensory abilities. And a few other powers than I know will reveal themselves in time. "

Clark looked at his hands. "When?"

"When you are ready."

Clark looked at intently at his real father, he was still trying to process all of this information, not only is he the last son of Krypton but it turns out _**he is **_Krypton. He was, as far as Jor-El explained, the last living remnant of probably the most advanced mortal race in all of the galaxy. Suddenly his self-perception of being a loner wallflower seemed so far away, yet painfully accurate at the same time.

"Why did you send me away?"

"Kal, you are the pinnacle of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, you were the first free birth in centuries, and there are greater callings for you than dying so early. And we loved you, we wanted you to at least have a chance at life."

"Free birth?"

"Yes, usually Kryptonian offspring are genetically bred and manufactured in a birthing matrix, it was efficient, but it deprived the child of being able to choose who he or she wanted to be, it deprived the child of the chance of being more than what society intended the child to be. We sent you away because we wanted you to live your own life and make your own choices in this universe, not to become a victim of fate like Krypton."

Clark, or Kal-El, took a very deep breath as he let everything sink in.

"Father?"

Jor-El smiled, he has never been addressed as that before.

"What do you mean by greater callings?"

Jor-El gave him a knowing look. "What do you think makes you so unique? So capable? What do you think gives you the potential to achieve something greater than yourself?"

Clark wasn't very sure of what to answer. "My powers?"

"Perhaps, but there is more to it than just you having powers." Jor nodded cryptically.

"What do you mean more? What do I do with my powers?" he quickly replied.

"The freedom to choose is what I and your mother have given you by ensuring your survival. You can do anything you want with them. But that doesn't mean you should Kal, actions have consequences, I assume you know this but you still have much to learn about what you want be, and how you will impact the world you live in. I estimate you are only seventeen years old, you are still a child, and your abilities, let alone your mind have not even begun to reach their potential. When you have realised what it is you really want to be, and you know it's the right thing, we will have another talk. Rao watch over you, my son."

The holographs smiled at him once more as the projector turned itself off and the holographs disappeared. Clark found himself smiling too, for once in his life he felt important, he felt like the special person his parents keep telling him he is, as strange as it was he was feeling more confident than he had ever been in his life. But upon realising it a wave of sadness and melancholy hit him, he realised how alone he truly is, he was the last member of a once great race, and there was no-one else left, no-one but himself can ever realise the feeling of isolation that comes with being the only survivor of your own kind, and being irrecoverably different from all those you know and love.

* * *

"So how did it go?" Martha prompted.

The Kents were gathered around the table having dinner and the topics of discussion was dominated by the fact that Clark now knew of his real parentage.

"It was okay." Clark answered flatly as he sparingly ate his food.

"What did they tell you?"

"They told me everything that they told you." He answered defensively. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Jon spoke up. "It wasn't our choice to make, your parents wanted you to live as a human child and have some semblance of a normal childhood without the weight on your shoulders knowing what you know now burdening you."

Clark nodded in understanding, he knew he would've probably been deeply depressed and even more broody if he had to deal with this knowledge at an earlier age. But his developing maturity still doesn't make this easy.

Martha looked at him with fond concern, he clearly was having some difficulty dealing with this. Being the last of your kind in a planet that you don't really fit in was bound to make her son lonelier than he was.

"How do you feel?"

He didn't look at her. "I feel okay."

"No you don't."

"Really mom, I'm okay."

"If you were feeling okay you would've finished your food by now."

Clark sighed, there was no more hiding it. His mom knew him so well. "I feel lonely mom." He sadly admitted

Martha reached over and squeezed his hand. "We know Clark. Being the last surviving member of your family is hard enough, but knowing you're the last of your kind is something else. But we want you to know we're here for you Clark, we love-."

"I know mom. I love you too, I just need some time with this." Clark finally managed a smile at her.

Martha decided to change the subject. "So Clark, how's Lana?"

"She's great, she's a cheerleader now and she's dating the captain of the football team."

"Oh." Clark knew Martha wanted to know how he felt about his too, she knew Clark had feelings for Lana but she decided to not press him about it.

Jonathan decided to change the subject back to Clark's real parents. "What did Jor-El tell you about your powers?"

"He told me that I have the freedom of choice to do with them whatever I wanted." Clark stated.

Jon understood, despite all his lectures he knew Clark needed to make his own decisions. "He's right Clark, you should be the only one that gets to decide what you do with your gifts."

"Thanks dad."

"Clark, do you still have that permission slip?"

Clark's face brightened, "Why?"

Jon gave him a smile back, "If my adopted, extremely powerful son wants to play ball, then who am I to stop him?"

Clark chuckled. He felt a little better now. "I threw the slip away dad."

Jonathan was surprised, "Really?"

"Yep, I don't need to play basketball to impress Lana, I think I'll just tell her who I am. I know I can trust her. And I'll be more open, make more friends and as you said work that Kent charm." Clark said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Jon's face was pensive "Are you sure about this? Not about the being more open part but the part about telling Lana about you being a, uh," Jon hesitated, he didn't want to describe his son using the word alien.

"An alien?" he suggested with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure she can handle it." He assured confidently.

* * *

Three days before the dance

It was nine in the evening and Clark was standing outside Lana's house staring at her window. He could see that the light was still on. Good sign he thought, at least he won't be waking her up. With a deep breath of concentration, he gently threw a tennis ball at her window, he was relieved he managed to regulate his strength enough to not shatter it. At this point it made him realise how silly the idea of him playing basketball would be, he would be throwing bricks or passing into the stands every single time, or fouling out by the first timeout. His thoughts were stopped when he saw the window open and Lana sticking her head out. He resolved the past few days that he was going to bite the bullet and admit to her his feelings tonight. If she rejects him, so be it, he reasoned they would probably not see each other for years after this final year of high school anyway so the potential damage if they had falling out was minimal.

"Hello? Who's there? Whitney?" she called.

"Hey Lana." A voice called out from the darkness.

"Clark? Is that you?"

He seemed to stutter as he answered "Um, uh, yeah."

"Why are you here?" she quickly questioned, but he couldn't detect in her tone that she took offense to him disturbing her, another good sign he thought. "I mean you could've called, you do have my number right?"

Clark cringed, he did have Lana's number and it would've made infinitely more sense if he called first. "Um, yeah, I do." He sighed as he realised how stupid he must seem to Lana right now. "I just want to talk to you, if-if that's okay?" he managed to say.

"Well, it must be important if you had to show up now," she mused. "Yeah, I'll come down, see you on the porch." she agreed.

"Thanks Lana."

Clark blushed and his heart rate was increasing with every time Lana took a step down the stairs, he was watching her come down through the walls. He took another deep breath to calm himself.

Lana quietly stepped out, she was wearing pyjamas and her silky brown hair was down and flowing freely. Clark's heart skipped a beat, even when getting ready for bed she looked absolutely like beautiful girl she was.

"So Clark? What is it you wanted to talk about?" she started as she sat down on the porch chair.

"Um, I just wanted to say, that-" Clark fumbled, he didn't expect this to be so hard, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "I just wanted to say that you look beautiful tonight."

Lana awkwardly blushed and giggled hesitantly, but she was bemused nonetheless. "Clark, you came here in the middle of the night to tell me I'm beautiful?"

* * *

**_A/N:_**_ I had to cut it there, otherwise I felt this one chapter would be too long winded, hence the subtitle, the next update would pick up right on where this one ended. And as the subtitle suggests, the story will pick up pace._

_I read all the reviews, and I'd like to take a moment and personally thank everyone who's reading this and those who gave feedback/follows/favourites, I sincerely appreciate them all._


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: **At the sound advice of another writer, I've changed the football part from last chapter to basketball and the date of the dance is Christmas instead of Valentine's._

* * *

**Higher Callings II, When you lose your innocence.**

"You came here in the middle of the night to tell me I'm beautiful?"

Clark's sharp ears didn't fail to detect the slight but telling tone of accusation in Lana's question. He thought his compliment would get them both to relax but he seemed even more nervous now. "No no no that's not-"

"Then what is it Clark?" she interrupted impatiently, raising her voice, "You don't think I'm beautiful or did you come here to say more?"

_Damn it _he thought, this was going from bad to worse. He tried to recuperate, "What? Of course I think you're beautiful, it was just the first thing I thought about when I saw you come out of the door."

"Okay, thanks. So?" she said sounding unconvinced.

"I have something that I need to tell you."

She tilted her head and looked at him with raised eyebrows, her quizzical look told him she wanted to listen to what he has to say. He exhaled.

"Lana, can you come with me? I have someplace I'd like to take you." he offered. She looked at him with a curious arch as she listed the reasons why that would not be a good idea. "Clark," she began, "it's late in the evening, and your place is an hour away, plus I have cheerleading practice tomorrow. Now's not a very good time."

"I know I know, but this is important, and I promise you'll be back here by eleven." He reasoned persuasively.

"How? It's almost ten."

Clark looked at her eyes intently and Lana felt the full impact of his beautiful blue orbs illuminated by the moon. "Lana, I need you to trust me, just this once. Please?" he implored with a soft voice.

She exhaled, she noticed that Clark had the look of someone who can't be denied. "Alright," she exasperated, "because you're my friend. Let me just get a coat."

"Oh that's not necessary." stated Clark.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Clark extended his arms out and gave an encouraging look at her. "Jump into my arms."

"Clark, no." she flatly refused with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Just do it." he countered.

"Why?"

"I thought you agreed to trust me?"

"Yeah but-"

"Lana, come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

Lana seemed to contemplate for a second, there was no harm in it so she reluctantly agreed to be carried by Clark. He carefully cradled her in his arms as she wrapped hers around his neck and gripped them together at his nape. He could barely register her weight but Lana was feeling a strange heat coming off from Clark's surprisingly hard torso contrasting nicely against the cool air, he was only wearing a short-sleeved tee. Their bodies were snug against each other, but Clark could feel nothing.

Lana gulped and looked up at Clark, "What now?" she whispered. He gave her what he hoped was an enchanting smile, "Hold on tight. And close your eyes." his smile only compelled her to do what he said.

Clark started running on the driveway with Lana in her arms towards the street, Lana wondered what he was doing, but with every stride she felt he was running faster and faster, she opened her eyes and soon she saw the streetlights blur past her at a speed she only knew was possible if she was in a car, even the horses she rode in the weekends didn't run as fast as this. Her brown eyes opened full with surprised amazement, what the hell was happening? Clark was running faster than what she knew was humanly possible. She felt the chill of the wind against her face as he increased his speed, suddenly she was thankful for the conspicuous warmth that his body seemed to radiate. How is Clark doing this? She asked herself again, her mind started moving quickly at the possible explanations as to what on Earth is happening. The logical situation was that she was in a dream, and in the dream Clark was some sort of robot who can run really fast and felt really warm, but everything felt unsettlingly real.

Clark felt Lana's fragrant hair billowing in his neck due to the speed and looked down at her, he saw her bewildered expression and mentally began to prepare himself for the inevitable onslaught of questions she was bound to ask. Clark was careful to not run too fast, he kept the pace at around a hundred miles an hour and avoided any jerky movements because he knew the effects of sudden acceleration on a human body. But even at this leisurely pace, for him that is, they were at his barn door before she could open her mouth. To check if she was okay, he scanned her with his vision, her heart was pumping almost as fast as he ran, she was panting for air and her stomach looked like a cashew, but apart from that she was fine. He gave her a quick and faint burst of heat vision aimed at her hands and face since she was still in her pyjamas and it was cold out.

Lana noticed that he didn't even break a single sweat, even when she felt really warm for some reason.

He eased up and let her feet down on the ground, but he kept holding her close as she couldn't seem to stand upright. Lana was truly breathless, and albeit ruefully he felt proud of himself that he got that reaction out of her. His heart suddenly swelled with confidence.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concerned eyes, his voice was soft and beseeching.

She said between gasps "I, uh, yeah. I think. Oh my God!"

Clark offered a small smile and a shrug. Lana regained her composure, "Clark?! How did y-"

He cut her off by putting his finger on her lips, her eyebrows raised in surprise and her eyes showed wavering submission at Clark's sudden gesture, but she didn't resist. In the soft moonlight she noticed that he looked extremely handsome, _wait where did that come from? Clark? Handsome? I have a boyfriend!_ But he was undeniably opulent, his shirt accentuated his broad shoulders and his shadowed but strong jawline. Both literally and figuratively she never perceived Clark in this markedly masculine way before. For the first time his presence was making her heart throb.

He tightened his jaw as he breathed, "I'll tell you anything you want to know, but we're not there yet. Follow me."

Clark offered his hand for Lana to take, she looked at his palm and bit her lower lip in uncertainty, it was this simple, unconscious mannerism that peppered Clark's skin with goosebumps, for she looked devastatingly kissable.

Unmeasurable seconds passed until a blushing Clark finally drew his hand back and started walking towards the barn, Lana watched him slide the door open and flick the light switch on.

He put his hand on the railing leading up the stairs and looked at Lana once more, "Are you coming?" he urged.

Lana nodded her head yes and followed him up the stairs to his loft. She stepped inside and took in the surroundings, everything was remarkably _un-Clark, _this loft was cosy and lovely, which were attributes she never viewed Clark with until tonight.

"You're the first person I've ever brought here." He pointed out. Clark then said the words he rehearsed before seeking Lana out. "Welcome to my humble abode, and make yourself comfortable."

"Uhm, okay." She replied as she sat down on the sofa. Clark went over to the music player and selected Clapton, soon the subtle and quiet acoustic music filled the air. Lana watched him move gracefully around the slightly cramped space of the loft. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

"So?" he prompted.

"Hmm?" she blankly muttered, staring at him. She was more than comfortable just sitting there not talking, as if in a musical trance.

Clark half-chuckled. "Do you have any questions you want to ask me?"

Lana remembered herself. "Oh, yes, how did you run so fast?" she hastily asked.

He grinned wryly. "Fast? That wasn't very fast," he paused "well not for me anyway."

Lana frowned at his playful boastfulness. "Clark, you know what I mean, what you just did-"

"Yes. I know. I can run much faster than any human," he said with a smile. "I'm pretty sure I'm faster than Whitney." His snide remark made Lana scoff. "I can also jump very high, and I'm extremely strong, see the water tower outside?" Clark pointed at the water tower and Lana nodded. "Watch this."

To prove his point, Clark blurred to the base of the water tower and effortlessly jumped to the top, he waved at Lana, and blurred back to the loft next to her.

"Wow, you'd be amazing at basketball." she observed dryly. Clark laughed. "So, how are you like this?" she questioned.

Clark's expression turned serious and he drew very close to Lana, and she once again felt that heat radiating off from him as his eyes bore into her.

His voice was soft, "Lana, do you believe that aliens exist?"

Lana choked, his question suggested that he wasn't a robot, but something much more fantastical. "Clark? What are you talking about?" she replied incredulously.

"I'm not from here Lana."

She crinkled her nose dubiously as she refused to acknowledge, "I don't believe you."

"Do you not?" he challenged.

"But, but, you look so-"

"Normal?" he interjected.

"Yeah." she softly conceded. "Surely you can't be-"

"Extra-terrestrial? Yep. I'm not a human." He stated. "I may look like one but I'm from another planet."

She looked at him sceptically and he turned his back to her and stood there with his hand in his pockets, staring out at the stars above them. Lana crinkled her nose and furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief, she looked at Clark with an incredulous expression and started shaking her head. Clark Kent, who was her mild-mannered, awkward, shy and frankly boring friend was telling her that he was an alien with superhuman abilities, and even when he provided very tangible proof of it she was still having a hard time accepting it. _No way! Clark?! He can't be?!_

He broke her out of reverie as he once again regarded her with a soul-piercing cerulean gaze,

"Do you want to leave?"

His tone and his eyes coerced her to be truthful,

"Yes." she confessed in a whisper before she could think. He once again turned to look at the night sky, waiting for her to get up and actually ask to leave herself, but she didn't move.

She had always regarded Clark as unassuming and meek, compared to the other guys he was unremarkably grey. But here he was, bringing her to a place that was clear to her was very close to his heart, and telling her a near-unbelievable report that made her blood rush around her brain faster than anyone who had previously turned her head with whatever they usually did, or said. The irony wasn't lost on her, because as of now the other team captains, social naturals, athletes and popular trendsetters she knew paled insignificantly in comparison to the humdrum and reserved farm boy/gorgeous super-powered alien.

She looked at him as he gazed at the dotted blackness from which he apparently came from. He was so handsome when he was deep in thought she noticed. She couldn't help but feel extremely attracted to him, she dismissed Clark as friend a long time ago, but seeing this new side of him…it was just so alluring, and the fact that he chose to tell and show her who he was made her feel special. It made her want him, and by the looks she saw in Clark's eyes earlier she had a feeling he felt something similar for her. The thought of her and Clark racked her with nervousness and doubt; Whitney, she didn't want to do anything that would hurt Whitney. But oh the temptation was there, and it was very hard to resist the urge do something about it.

She tried to remember the reasons why she relegated him as 'just a friend', and they evaporated.

"Clark?" she started breathlessly. Her heart was pounding. "Why are you telling me this? Why now? Why did you come in the middle of the night to my house and tell me about all this?"

His eyes were serious, and his voice was beseeching, "Do I scare you Lana?"

She can't seem to stop staring at his eyes, they pierced every layer of her thoughts. She nodded her head up and down.

Clark took a deep breath. "Lana, this is an important secret that only you and my parents know, but it's not what I wanted to tell you."

"What do you mean? I think this is the most shocking thing I've ever heard."

Clark half-smiled. "I understand, but I didn't come to your house to tell you that I can run really fast. I came to tell you something you'll find scarier."

"What is it then?" she questioned with a demanding tone.

Clark closed his eyes and swallowed.

"I'm in love with you Lana, I can't help it but I love you, and it's been like that for a long time." he admitted in a sincere whisper.

"Oh." she gasped, her stomach was in knots. The feelings of instantaneous attraction she was just starting to feel towards him seemed to blossom at his words. A minute ago she found him attractive because of the way he looked and his mysteriousness. But now, hearing him tell her that he sincerely loved her took that attraction to uncharted levels. She was genuinely becoming drawn to him, not for any reason other than who he is.

Hearing her reaction, he sustained, "I can't hold it in anymore, you're the person who can make me feel this way, you're very special to me."

She felt the same way.

Clark sat down next to her and once again concentrated his cerulean blue eyes as he reached to push a lock of brown hair behind her ear and then to cradle her reddened cheek. "I figured that if I show you who and what I really am first then it should come naturally for me to admit what I feel. All of it is true, I'm an alien and I'm in love with you, Lana Lang." His reverential tone was heartfelt, and she began to helplessly yield to what her feelings were stirring in her.

Clark placed his other hand on her lap and began to tentatively caress. The sensation she felt was electric. He drew closer to her.

He featherly skimmed her rosy, puckered lips with his thumb.

Her head spun and her spine shook at the jolting sensations his warm touch was giving her.

She closed her eyes as she took a breath. Sultry, seductively, she moaned.

"Please…Clark…"

He asked huskily, "Do I still scare you now?"

His baritone voice, his penetrating gaze, they were so irresistibly erotic. She couldn't help but nod and whimper yes.

She put an arm around his neck and she bit her lower lip as they looked into each other.

That was it, Clark could fight the mutual temptation no longer. He leaned in and planted a silky, emotional kiss on the corner of her beautiful lips, setting them on fire.

He gingerly pulled back. "You're more beautiful than I could ever imagine…"

Lana opened her eyes and looked into his, they were dark with desire and glowing slightly red in the irises but she couldn't ponder that now. Both of their hearts were pounding and hers was close to melting.

Clark couldn't stop at the helpless look in Lana's eyes, he leaned in again with intent to kiss her with fervour. Inches, centimetres, millimetres, he was tantalisingly close. One more split-second and he would get to do what he's wanted to for so long…

Lana abruptly turned her head and placed a restricting hand on Clark's chest, he froze in place.

She couldn't let him nor herself do it. Her heart was screaming out to give in and let him kiss her hard and reciprocate but she couldn't. Was it Whitney? Was it because she didn't want to ruin what she had with Clark? Was it because he made her so nervous? She didn't know, but she couldn't. It was a decision she had to make.

A tear rolled down on her cheek, "I'm sorry Clark, I can't, we've known each other for so long…" The lump in her throat expanded and she couldn't say any more.

Clark instinctively pulled his hands back and stood up to create distance between the two of them. His heart was dejectedly crushed. He was so close to having her but she couldn't do it. At first he was frustrated and confused but he began to understand why she couldn't let him. Replaying the night's events, he had randomly turned up at her house, confessed that he was an alien and that he loved her, then he kissed her when both of them knew she already had a boyfriend. It was greedy of him, he recognized he was being unfair, he had no right to put her in a spot like that and then take advantage of her vulnerability.

"Hey, it's okay," his soothed with a calm voice. His eyes were full of regret as he looked at her with an apologetic expression. "I was acting like a pretentious douche. I was really selfish. I'm really sorry."

"No Clark," she amended. "It's not you. It's-"

Clark cut her off and explained, "Lana, don't blame yourself. I had no right to do what I just did. You were right to stop. I was out of line."

Lana sniffled, "It's alright, really, we were both at fault."

"I'm sorry Lana, I shouldn't've pushed you." He assured.

Long moments of silence passed between them as both of them calmed down and gathered themselves, finally, Clark spoke up and reminded her, "I need to get you back. It's almost eleven."

"Oh, yes, I do need to get back." she agreed.

Clark once again extended her arms out for Lana and she obliged without saying anything or looking at him, this time on the ride back there wasn't the previous excitement and thrill, but instead stiff awkwardness and lingering arrived at Lana's house as quick as they left and Lana stepped out of Clark's arms and started for her front door. Clark was watching her. She turned her head back.

"Clark?"

"Yes?"

His friendship was really important to her, and he felt likewise. But the feelings of affection between the two of them were best left unsaid, even though they were still there. "Are we gonna be okay?" she asked sincerely. He felt his heart contract at her kindness and he could only respond in kind.

He resigned to look at the floor downcast. "That's up to you, I really wish I didn't screw things up too badly tonight."

Lana smiled pitifully, "I hope we're going to be alright Clark." she acquiesced. Clark smiled back at her. "I hope so too, thank you for listening to what I had to say, and for not hating me for what I did."

"It's alright, we can still be friends." she offered kindly, the quivering softness in her voice indicated to Clark that she was minutely uncomfortable with drawing the lines as just platonic. It gave him some hope but it didn't really matter much.

"So, are you going to the dance?" she asked wistfully, trying to change the subject.

Clark's eyes grew wide in recognition, _the dance! _He never had planned to go but it would be a great way to forget about what happened tonight and hopefully meet some new people at the same time. And after tonight's shenanigans he realised it was high time to break out of his shell.

"Yeah." he replied coolly.

"Cool, see you there, goodnight."

"Goodnight Lana." Before things got too awkward again he blurred back to his farm.

* * *

Lana sighed as she opened the door to her room and lied down on her bed. She can't help but think about him, his hands on her lips, his warmth, his gaze, the way he made her heart flutter like a hummingbird's wings._ Clark._ No-one made her feel as sensual and wanton as he did in that short space of time. And despite everything that had transpired between them on this night those intense feelings of fondness and desire she experienced when she was in his loft just wouldn't die down; she was still attracted to him. She hoped in her heart that things would still be the sociable norm between her and Clark, but she knew they can't just pretend nothing occurred, of course they could still be friends but after what happened and what nearly happened tonight it was going to be complicated being in the same room as him, and she feared that it would be like that for a long time.

When Clark arrived at his farm, he went back to his loft to contemplate the night's events. He kissed her but before they could do any more she refused him, but from the way Lana was looking at him how she responded towards his amorous touch he knew that Lana reciprocated his feelings in her own way and wanted to continue, despite the actual outcome. He felt the sting of rejection tug at his ego, but to his pleasant surprise he was not heartbroken, his emotions were wounded but they weren't dead. He knew it was going to take him a while to get over Lana but in the end he would, and his lips quirked upon the memory of when he kissed her, however short it was. When he did so, he felt confident, he felt wanted, he felt empowered, the fact that Lana wanted him imbued that warm feeling he had always craved but never had a chance to experience as an awkward wallflower, but now he knew he could change that.

* * *

The next day, Clark resolved to go into school with a new outlook, and a new outfit, he wanted to swap his normally baggy and unflattering attire with something a bit more modern; and since he had no such things he just pulled out his smaller clothes from when he was younger and put those on instead. He had to admit he looked quite fashionable. He wore a white long-sleeved collared shirt under a very form-fitting maroon sweater coupled with slim jeans and classic Converse. When he entered through the gates he did get a few double takes and from the whispers he heard everyone thought he was a new guy. Some who recognised him as the nerd were quite taken aback by the handsome, tall and well-built young man that they saw in his place. He walked with his chin held high and with his chest out, he exuded a silent confidence and for the first time he seemed to belong here, for the first time he finally stood out.

As he walked inside his first class he felt all the eyes in the room turn at him. He flashed dazzling smiles at no-one in particular making a lot of girls blush when he made eye contact with them. Clark's ego inflated at hearing the girls' quickened pulses when he brushed past them. This was it, this was the feeling of gratification and validation he had yearned for, it was shallow as a puddle but it sure as hell felt good. He smiled to himself, he couldn't help but feel happy and he couldn't believe he was already feeling better after Lana turned him down.

Lunchtime, and instead of sitting alone at the cafeteria he decided to eat the sandwich his mother made for him outside. It was December and it was cold, but the weather was clear, sunny and not windy so kids were out on the school yards. He saw the men's basketball team having an unofficial scrimmage on the outdoor court and he sat down at the bleacher amongst other people to observe them play, of course that wasn't the only thing he was observing, since the cheerleaders were also watching the basketball on the court. He surmised that it was great motivation to try hard if the cheer team watched them practice. He saw her and smiled.

Lana saw Clark sit down on the bleacher opposite the one she was on and she saw him smile at her, she smiled back. Both looked away instantly but then turned to look back at each other, smiling again briefly.

"And one!" a loud shout broke their little standoff, it was Whitney. He looked at Lana and saw her smiling at a point in space that was not at him. Whitney followed her gaze and saw a tall, attractive guy with dark hair at the end. _Wait a minute? Is that the weird dude? _

It was the weird dude, but now he looked like some sort of model. And by the way Lana, his supposed girlfriend, was smiling at him Whitney knew she thought he was attractive too. He himself was on the receiving end of those type of smiles after all. He felt jealous, he wrote the guy off as Lana's weird friend but now he felt intimidated. He could tell by the way other the cheerleaders were looking at him that he was getting a lot of attention. He couldn't even remember the guy's name.

"Fordman? You gonna check it?" Whitney snapped out of his annoyance and got back to the task at hand.

Clark sat there and just observed, but he couldn't stop himself from occasionally looking back at Lana, and when she looked back he would just abruptly turn his head, Whitney noticed their exchanges and he was getting quite irritated with this suspicious behaviour. Lana was his, and he wasn't about to let this guy come in here and shoot glancing smiles at her and get away with it. A smile crossed Whitney's lips, he gathered the players up for a team huddle and explained a plan he concocted meant to humiliate the guy in front of everyone, he broke the huddle and the squad dispersed for a water break. Whitney went to approach Clark.

A tap on Clark's back caught his stare from the object of his attention, who was incidentally the same at Whitney's.

"Hey what's up man?" Whitney greeted with a smile.

"Hey," Clark acknowledged. "You guys looked sharp out there."

"Thanks, what was your name again?"

"Uh, Clark. Clark Kent"

"Cool, say Clark? We noticed that you look pretty athletic, want to join us next game?"

Clark raised his eyebrows. "Me? Nah."

"Why not?"

"I'm not very good at basketball, and I don't work out."

"It's not like we're asking you to sign up for the team, and you look like you're probably stronger and taller than most of us. Just one game bro."

"I don't want to interfere with your practice." Clark offered weakly.

"We're not practicing dude, just having some fun. Kinda like a slow warm-up for tonight's game."

Clark thought about Whitney's invitation, it was just a friendly game of pick-up he reasoned, and what the worst that could happen? So in the spirit of trying something new Clark stood and took him up on his offer.

"Alright," Clark said, "but I don't have any shorts."

"Don't worry." Whitney replied confidently. "We've got practice uniforms here, you can use that."

He walked on the court and Whitney offered him a pair of spare shorts that he could use, and a reflective jersey to wear over his clothes to signify the side he was playing on. Clark accepted and went to the bathroom to change. He tuned his ears outside and heard Whitney and his teammates call over all the kids they can to sit down at the court and watch the game, Clark recognised it as suspect and readied himself for any pranks.

The stands were almost filled to capacity when Clark stepped out as all of the students in the immediate vicinity were assembled by Whitney to watch a simple pick-up game, or so everyone thought. Clark was tall, so he was assigned to guard one of the bigger guys on the opposite team. The game started and even though he's barely played basketball in his life he was holding his own; he tried not to show off too much but every now and then he would use his speed to run up the floor a little faster than everyone, getting faint oohs from the crowd. Eventually he relaxed and settled down. He was actually starting to enjoy himself.

The game went on and the score was tied at 20, with 21 being the winning basket. Whitney, who was on the team opposing Clark called out a typical play and everyone but Clark acknowledged it as the colluding signal for the plan to commence.

"23 screen!"

The guys on the court started moving around. Whitney passed the ball to a guy named Blake; who was known as the most athletically explosive player in the school and who was also known for his penchant of violent slam dunks. Clark's man purposely drew him under the basket to set him up and Blake dribbled to attack. Clark's teammates subtly parted to give Blake a clear path. Blake put the ball in two hands and took two steps ready to take off.

Clark was under the basket and saw Blake dribble towards him with intent to score. He grit his teeth. Blake soared and extended his arm high up in the air above his head, he was going to throw it down hard on Clark. Clark was went his options, he could move out of the way or he could show off a little…

Clark jumped straight up to meet him at the apex of his flight, and the hair on top of their heads cleared the ten-foot rim. Jaws were collectively open in anticipation of a Blake highlight. But instead the crowd saw Clark swing for the ball and smack it, ripping it out of Blake's hand with his own and palming it in mid-air. The crowd gasped and screamed, they expected to see Clark on the floor with Blake standing over him, but it was the other way round. Clark landed on two feet with the ball in his hand while Blake landed on his behind after losing his balance due to the block. Clark took advantage of everyone's shock and shot up the floor with a burst. He outran everyone and finished coast-to-coast with a thunderous dunk and the crowd erupted at what they just witnessed. Whitney, and all the other players were absolutely dumbfounded and stunned; the supposed outcome was supposed to be Clark's embarrassment but Clark completely flipped the script and won the game.

Clark looked over at Lana, and surprisingly she was cheering and smiling at him at the same time. Clark gave her a knowing wink. Whitney, already angered and confused at the failure of his plan took note of this and stormed off.

* * *

"Clark?" Martha called from upstairs.

"Yes Ma?"

"Can you come up here please?"

"Sure mom." replied Clark as he turned off the TV.

Clark entered his room and saw his parents standing next to his bed with a knowing smile on their faces. Clark's eyebrow quirked.

"What are you wearing to the dance Clark?" inquired Martha.

Clark told his parents of his plans to go the dance earlier. And they were happy for him, they saw their boy starting to take control of his life and mould himself into a stripling, confident young man.

"I don't know" he replied with a shrug, "I think I'll wear one of dad's old suits."

"You don't have to, look what we got for you."

Jonathan pulled out two hangers from Clark's closet and upon them hung a pristine and immaculate black-slate, pinstriped dinner jacket with matching grey trousers and a black tie. On the other hanger was a fetching dark maroon waistcoat and a faded yellow shirt. It was an eye-catching three-piece ensemble.

"Woah!" Clark exclaimed. Jon and Martha laughed at his reaction.

Clark took the hanger, "Where did you get this?"

"From a suit store." came Jon's dry reply.

Clark chuckled, "Which suit store?"

"A very nice suit store." Martha joined.

Clark frowned and gave them a questioning look. He looked at the tag on the jacket and saw the logo. The name sounded Italian, and expensive. "How much was this?" he hastily blurted.

"It was on clearance." Martha offered.

"We had enough." said Jon.

Clark pressed, "Dad, mom, how much did you spend on this?"

Jon and Martha didn't answer, which confirmed that the suit was most likely very valuable. Clark put the hangers down on his bed and sighed.

"Mom, Dad, you shouldn't have." Clark chided, "I don't want you to spend so much on me."

Clark's upbringing reared him to be humble and modest; he never asked for extravagant gifts and he never longed for material belongings so he was a little nervous of accepting such a well-tailored suit.

"Oh don't worry about it!" assured Martha.

Jon added, "Yeah, think of it as an early Christmas and birthday present."

Clark started, "Are you sure? I mean my birthday is not for another month and Christmas is like three weeks away…"

Martha cut him off, "Clark, this is the first time we know of that you're going to an event like this, and we want to make sure we do our part and make it as special as we can." she explained.

Clark smile at them and pulled them into a tight hug, "Thanks mom, thanks dad. I love you guys."

Jon said happily, "You're welcome."

Martha picked up the suit off the bed and gave it to Clark. "So, why don't you try it on?"

"Okay, give me a sec."

Martha and Jon walked out of the room to give Clark space to change and quite literally a second after they closed the door Clark was finished changing.

"Okay, done!"

Jon and Martha laughed as they went back inside, when they stepped in they saw a very fine man in a suit that seemed to highlight and accentuate all of his features and his figure.

"Oh my goodness!" Martha gasped.

"Wow, Clark, you're going to break hearts tonight!" Jon added.

Clark asked with a twinkle in his eye, "So how do I look?"

"Majestic." Martha answered simply. Clark's shoulders and chest were broad and powerful.

"Yeah, good thing I picked out that suit instead of the other one your mother was looking at."

Martha elbowed Jon, "Shut up dear. It was the other way round Clark; your dad wanted to pick out another and I suggested this one instead. Of course I was correct." she said, proud of the way her son looked in the suit she selected.

Jon rolled his eyes, "Course you were honey." Clark laughed, his parents' thoughtfulness made him feel so warm inside.

* * *

It was the night of the dance, and Jon dropped off Clark at the school. Clark took a moment to look at his reflection through a window; straightening his tie and combing his wavy and slightly curly jet black hair with his fingers. He had to admit that the suit his parents bought him was excellent and very tasteful, he took another second to appreciate his appearance and turned to walk to the dance.

He signed his name at the register at the door, then he walked inside the gym that was the venue for the dance. He entered and immediately he noticed the ballroom atmosphere that has been set for the seniors' Christmas dance. The lights were dimmed, there was an illuminated stage and a large disco ball upon which hung a giant mistletoe. Clark smiled, that detail was very clever. He wondered how many people were going to be kissing under the giant plant tonight, certainly not him though he thought to himself.

He arrived about ten minutes after the official start of the event and the place was already packed with students, all dressed in a rainbow smorgasbord of suits, gowns and dresses. He could see that everyone made an effort to look the part tonight, and he thanked his parents again for buying him a great suit himself. He walked to the drinks bar, they were only serving non-alcoholic drinks and cocktails but he didn't mind. He took a cherry-tinted cocktail and sipped it; it was nice, sweet and he liked the taste. He looked over his glass as he took another sip, and he could see that some of the people were looking at him and whispering among themselves. With a sigh, he tuned his ears to listen in on some of the conversations.

"_Is that him?"_

"_Yeah, that's him. The guy that embarrassed Blake Griffiths."_

"_Oh yeah? Were you there? Everyone's been talking about it, apparently it was amazing."_

"_Yeah I was there, dude it was awesome."_

He listened to another conversation, this time between two girls whose names he barely knew.

"_Is that Clark Kent?"_

The girl she was speaking to didn't turn to look._ "Clark Kent is here?" _

The other girl giggled,_ "Yeah, and he looks hot."_

"_What?"_

"_Look at him!"_

"_Wow, he does look really cute." _

"_I wonder where he got that suit."_

"_Screw the suit, I want to see what's underneath it!"_

Clark chuckled softly to himself, his mother's fashion compass was impeccable. And his ego was once again inflating at the attention he's being paid. But it quickly deflated back to earth when he saw _her_. She was wearing a stunning silver-white dress that clung tightly around her upper body and flared out at her hips. But the dress was trifling compared to her, for she looked wonderful tonight. Her smile, her hair, her eyes and her dimples were nothing short of captivating. Clark sighed, Whitney's arm was wrapped around her as they walked to socialise with many of their friends. Whoops and catcalls rang out when Lana and Whitney appeared before everyone; they looked like the classical and perfect teenage couple.

Clark picked up another drink and started for the back of the venue, he met her eyes for a split-second as he walked away.

* * *

Lana was conversing happily with her friends when she saw _him_, he was wearing a very fit suit and he was probably the most attractive male in the room; her apparent boyfriend included. It was impossible for a man to look as good as Clark did.

* * *

The navigation computer pinpoints the location of Kal-El's ship on Earth and sets a terminal course as Kara Zor-El's ship passes the moon.

* * *

Clark walks back to the front of the venue near the dance floor in order to grab another fruity cocktail. The motown-themed band was in full swing and the floor was buzzing with lively movement. He looked lover at the dance floor and saw her dancing with him.

* * *

Lana saw Clark staring at her as she looked over Whitney's shoulder after a twirl. Both their hearts skip a beat as she returned his intent gaze. His eyes were as enthralling as ever.

Whitney, oblivious to Clark's presence caught sight of Clark as he turned Lana for a spin. His blood began to boil. He very much remembers when Clark made his entire team look like rookies and embarrassed them all. In addition, the way he and Lana were looking at each other on the court gave him an injection of jealousy.

"Hey babe." Whitney said as he pushed Lana close to him. That farm-boy asshole will know who Lana belongs to.

Lana quickly recovered and looked at Whitney. "Hmm?"

"You look so hot tonight." he whispered seductively.

"Thanks Whitney, again."

Whitney gave her a mischievous look and brought his head down for a bruising kiss. Wolf-whistles and cheers rang out in the background. Lana's eyes opened wide in surprise at first but she returned the kiss anyway.

However, when Whitney's mouth was on hers she was acutely aware that deep down in her heart there was only one guy in the room she wanted to do this with.

Whitney pulled back and gave her a predatory grin. Then without warning he again pulls her to him and kisses her hard once more. Lana, taken aback by his aggressiveness stops the kiss before he gets carried away,

"Whitney! Stop it!" she hissed.

Whitney looked annoyed, "Why? I can't help myself babe!" he tried to pull back her back to him but she resists.

"Whitney, I'm serious, you can't keep on doing that in front of everyone!" she admonished with a glare. The fact that she said you instead of us hinted to Whitney that she wasn't giving her all when they kissed.

"Why not?"

"Because we're supposed to be dancing!"

"Fine!" he relented. "But that mistletoe is still there." he added.

"Thank you." she sighed as they continued their slow dancing.

* * *

Clark's felt his heart fall when he saw Whitney claim Lana's lips; he could still remember how they felt. The moment he and Lana shared in his loft seemed an eternity away now. He thought it would be a good idea coming here but now he was regretting it seeing the girl he loved with another guy. He kept on watching the pair as they danced and every now and then Lana would glance over at him and they'd lock eyes again.

A possessive Whitney at this point was getting heated, he noticed that over and over again Clark would be looking at Lana and she would be wistfully looking at him back. He decided to confront Lana about it. "Lana?" Whitney asked.

"Yes?"

Whitney face was unreadable, "What's your relationship with Clark?"

Lana face fell heavy and she felt her stomach shrink, "Which Clark?" she absently replied, trying to deflect his curiosity.

"You know, that Clark?"

"Whitney, there are a quite a few Clarks in this school, and I get along with everyone, you know that I'm-"

Whitney scoffed, "You know who I'm talking about. What's he to you?"

Lana began to inwardly panic. She tried to continue feigning her innocence, "Babe, I don't know who you're talking about. I know many Clarks." she calmly said.

"Well then," Whitney began as he held Lana's arm in a tight grip, "it would be the Clark you were looking at all fucking night." he stated with a chilling tone.

Lana gasped. "Clark Kent? He's, he's a close friend." she offered weakly.

"Reeaally?" Whitney replied sardonically. "Just how close are you two huh?"

Lana's heart started thudding, "We're pretty close." she explained.

"So that means you could look at each other the way you were looking at all night?!" he retorted with a raised voice as he tightened his grip on Lana.

"We haven't seen each other in a while and he is my friend!" Lana cried defensively.

Whitney let out a disturbingly dry laugh, "Don't give me that shit Lana, I saw the way you were looking at him yesterday let alone tonight. What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" he repeated.

"Yes."

"Okay, then tell me the reason why you were looking at him!"

Lana was getting exasperated, "I can't look at anyone without you questioning me? You don't own me Whitney, we only started seeing each other barely two weeks ago."

"Answer the question Lana." he pressed through gritted teeth.

Lana Lang was an honest person who never told a lie as long as she could help it, she wasn't going to stop now.

She answered him with a stoic demeanour. "Because I have feelings for him. There. You happy?"

"Ecstatic. Stay away from me." Whitney bluntly let go of her and stormed off. Lana sighed in irritation and left the gym too.

* * *

Kara Zor-El's ship started the final approach to Earth. The artificial meteorites were deployed and the cloaking systems were activated. However, the gravity sensor, which was damaged on the egress out of Krypton was having difficulties in calibrating to Earth's pull.

The ship breached the atmosphere and the outer skin began heating up, the gravity sensor had completely malfunctioned and the thrusters had not engaged properly to ease the craft's descent. The ship started plummeting way too fast towards the location of Kal-El's ship. It sent a distress signal to warn the other ship's computer of its imminent arrival.

* * *

Clark saw Whitney and then Lana leave the gym with displeasure panned across their faces. He didn't listen to their conversation but he knew things had gone sour between them. He put down his glass and turned to follow Lana, he found her in one of the corridors sitting down on a bench with her head buried in her hands.

"Lana?"

Lana looked up and saw Clark standing over her with a concerned expression, she sighed.

"Hey Clark, nice suit."

Clark chuckled, "Thanks, my mother picked it. I was going to wear one of my dad's old suits but they thought it would be better if I got to wear a real one."

Lana smiled, "Well it does look very nice on you."

"Yeah, if I may say so you look very nice too."

"So I've heard everyone say." she dismissed.

"Well it must be true then if everyone's saying it."

"Thanks Clark." she said quietly while looking away.

"Is everything okay? I saw you and Whitney and you looked quite angry at each other."

"Yeah," she groaned. "Everything's fine, he's not my boyfriend anymore."

"Oh." Clark was quite surprised at this, he thought that Lana must've had strong feelings for Whitney. "Care to explain why?"

"He asked me about my relationship with you."

Clark couldn't help but feel sorry for Lana if it was because of him that they ended. "Ah, what did you say?"

"The truth." she replied.

"Oh." Clark pondered what the 'truth' was, and he had to ask Lana if his idea of the truth was the same as hers. "But we're just friends Lana."

Lana scoffed lightly at his words. "No, Clark. You should know that since that night we're more than friends."

"Yes, I know." he admitted ruefully. "But it was you that decided otherwise wasn't it?"

"You don't get it Clark…" she started with a sigh.

"I don't get what?"

"Clark, do you know the reason I was attracted to Whitney?"

"Tell me." Clark already had an idea of why.

"It was because of his status, he was the captain of the team and he was a good looking, popular guy-"

"All admirable qualities in a guy." Clark interrupted.

Lana snickered, "Shut up and let me finish." Clark grinned sheepishly but straightened up immediately. Lana continued, "Well, I was attracted to him because of his image, of what other people thought of him, I wanted to be seen with him. I didn't have that burning desire to just be _with _him. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Perfectly." Clark assured, he understood Lana's reasons for why she was attracted to Whitney. He himself was trying to be the one of the guys girls were attracted to because of their status. He didn't realise until now just how empty that attraction was. He assumed that was just the way things worked.

Lana smiled at him. "Then you come along, for all of the time I knew you I just regarded you as kinda boring you know? But then you turn up at my house, you carry me in your arms then you tell me who you are." she looked at him longingly and he urged her with his eyes to continue, "You tell me you love me, and for the first time I felt things that I have never felt with anyone else. I didn't feel a mere attraction Clark, I felt desire, I felt passion. Not because of how many friends you have or what you do, but because I wanted to be with you the way you were."

* * *

In the barn, Kal-El's ship started emitting an ultrasonic signal indicating the arrival of a malfunctioning ship. The signal's frequency was so high that only a Kryptonian could possibly hear it.

* * *

Clark reached for hand and caressed it. "Do you still feel that way?"

"Yes, I do." she answered breathlessly as Clark pulled her for a kiss. She returned it with the passion she had longed to do since that night in the loft. Clark revelled in her as she parted her soft lips and allowed access for his tongue. She moaned heartily as Clark began caressing her back while at the same time he tenderly explored inside her mouth. Their eyes were closed and their breathing grew heavy as the kiss grew became more and more desperate. Clark could hear a faint screech in the background but he tuned it out. He disregarded it as instrument feedback coming from the band. His lips curved as he heard the song they were playing at this instant: Earth Angel.

* * *

Martha and Jon were sleeping peacefully in their bed. They were disturbed with a wailing, whistling sound coming from above them. They barely had time to get up and look out of the window as Kara's ship careened into the side of their house with a violent explosion. The impact of the crash created a smouldering crater where the Kent farmhouse and the barn used to be.

* * *

Clark was getting lost in Lana as they continued kissing, his senses were blocking out everything except for the feathery feel and the taste of her delicious lips. But he kept hearing a piercing screech that persisted in his eardrums despite his best efforts to tune it out. It irked him but he kept his attention on Lana. He heard another thing in the distance; a loud whistle akin to a falling bomb and then a resultant boom. Suddenly an ominous cloud began to hover over him. The explosion came from the direction of his home.

He hastily ended the kiss and pushed Lana away with an expression of distress, "Lana, I have to go."

Lana looked at him as if he had grown two heads, a second ago they were passionately making out and now he wanted to stop. "Clark? What ar-" She was interrupted by a gust of wind and a black blur where Clark used to be.

* * *

Clark arrived at his farm at record speed, the suit his parents had so lovingly gifted him was burnt and torn beyond recognition due to the friction when he ran so hard. It was tattered, ripped, singed and completely destroyed on his frame. But he didn't care about his goddamn suit. When he arrived at the farm his worst fears were brutally realised. The place he had grown up with, the place that contained everything and everyone he knew and loved were reduced to ashes before his eyes in a huge cloud of smoke and seething debris. The farmhouse was gone, the barn was gone, the water tower had collapsed and it the epicentre he saw a matte silver capsule with a familiar insignia on it.

As he got closer the ultrasonic screech he heard grew more intense, he registered it as coming from the basement of the destroyed barn. His heart stopped beating and tears started falling uncontrollably from his eyes as he realised what the sound was for. It was an early warning system; a warning system that he had failed to heed due to his own whimsical desires. Now he will pay the price. An iron hand crushed the remnants of his constitution and he fell to the floor in howling pain.

Nothing mattered to him now; not his love for Lana, not himself, not his superficial craving for attention, not his new outgoing change in life, not his stupid loft. All the trifling things he valued melted away into the sea like castles made of sand. His parents, who loved him more than they did themselves and nurtured and cared for him in their beautiful home had perished. He knew and believed it was because of him and he had nothing left.


	8. Chapter 8

They say that when you cry for so long the well of your tears will run dry; hence the feeling of being 'all cried out'. Except that when that happens your tears don't actually run out, they never will. Your body is made out of almost all water and you'll dehydrate before your tears run out. No, being 'all cried out' is much more psychological than simply running out of tears. The reason you stop crying is because of a biological failsafe your brain subconsciously undergoes when it has experienced too much emotional distress and shuts down to prevent any more damage. The brain stops itself from feeling anything. It's pretty straightforward really; _you stop crying because you become numb_.

* * *

Clark Kent, the only survivor of Krypton and now the only survivor of Kent, walks around what used to be his home. He had stopped crying a long time ago, or was it a minute ago? Doesn't matter, he's not crying now. He keeps walking around and looks for anything he can salvage from what was here before. Barely anything remained though, everything was charred black, mangled, burnt, and gone**. **He's drawn to the silvery capsule in the middle of all the wreckage and inspects it. The capsule's shape is extremely familiar and the insignia on the front is even more so, but he can see that the craft has sustained some major damage. He looks around in a circle. All the destruction seemed to radiate from the craft, and judging by the damage he surmised that it must've crashed here and it must've caused all this.

Anger rose inside of him, fanned by the black flames of his sadness. This ship has caused all this heartache and death. He didn't care whether it was part of his Kryptonian house or not. His muscles tensed and throbbed and he grit his teeth as he ripped open the front doors of the ship, ready to hold responsible whatever or whoever piloted it. But when he saw what's inside he stopped in his tracks. Lying in some sort of chamber was a beautiful, blonde young woman with red blood trickling out from her nose and mouth and her body was covered in cuts and bruises. He scanned her with his vision and saw that her internal organs were bleeding. The chamber she was lying in was shattered and all the screens surrounding it were cracked. His anger died down just as quickly as his parents probably did, it was replaced by curiosity, and a desire to help this woman. Clark inspected the interior of the ship, he wasn't an expert but he didn't recognise any flight controls such as a flight stick or even a yoke. The ship must've been pre-programmed and the striking young woman inside was probably just a passenger. It reminded him of the way Jor-El explained his being on Earth. He looked at the insignia on one of the consoles again, it was his insignia. The woman in the chamber was-is a part of his family.

He didn't know what to feel then. But he did feel something: mercy and compassion. His parents' death were tragic and heartbreaking, but that didn't diminish the fact that the heavily injured woman inside the ship was not at fault. In a blink of an eye, Clark was a blur of motion. There had been enough of his family members dying on this farm tonight and he was not about to let another one suffer the same fate; even if she was a stranger. He set his grief aside temporarily as he pondered what he could do to help the woman. Remembering his own ship, he went over to the destroyed barn's basement and activated the holographic projector with the Codex, and his biological parents' projections came online.

Jor-El greeted him, "Kal-El, I did not expect us to speak so soon."

"Well, neither did I." Kal-El said sadly. His voice was hoarse and he sounded as if he'd been choking.

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand."

"Well, you know when you said I was the last Kryptonian?" Kal-El replied.

Jor-El squinted his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows, "Yes?"

"You may be wrong." Kal-El stated.

"That is most improbable." Jor-El mused. He was more than surprised at the alleged survival of another Kryptonian. The planet exploded with such fury. "Kal-El, who is this other Kryptonian you're talking about?"

"I don't know who she is. But she's blonde, well-built and she carries the crest of our house."

Jor-El looked at his wife and she looked back at him and nodded her head. _So she did survive after all._ "Her name is Kara Zor-El, Kal." Lara informed Kal.

"Kara Zor-El? So she is part of our family?"

"Yes, she is your cousin, Kal-El."

"Oh." Kal gasped, the woman bleeding outside was actually his cousin. A desperate sense of worry overcame his features but he needed some answers first. He needed to know.

"How is she here? I thought I was the last one?"

Lara explained to him how the blueprints for Kal-El's ship were conveyed to Kara's father and the intent to send her away as well to accompany and protect Kal-El. The hyperspace portal must've been disabled somewhat and she had to make the trip to Earth the traditional way. The Krypton-Rao system was approximately 18 light years away from Earth, and the ship can travel at about the speed of light; therefore Jor-El and Lara reasoned that it made sense that she arrived now when Kal-El was nearing 18 years old.

"How is she Kal? Is she of good health? 18 years in hibernating suspension can take its toll."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, she's not in a good way, the ship crashed."

Lara gasped, she and Jor cared very much for their niece. "Bring her here, you have to move quickly." Jor sternly instructed.

Kal-El blurred away and returned with an unconscious Kara in his arms. "Now what?"

Kal-El's ship opened and Jor instructed Kal to retrieve the building crystals in the cargo hold. Upon Jor's guidance he inserted the crystal into a socket and the baby chamber Kal-El once inhabited transformed into a pod designed to hold Kara. He placed Kara in the pod and it was filled with intensified UV radiation rays in the form of a concentrated, dark violet plasma. Kal-El lifted an eyebrow in appraisal, he scanned the purple rays bombarding Kara's torso, head and legs. He realised that a human body would probably develop skin cancer if it was exposed even slightly to the ionising rays.

Lara stood next to Kal-El as they watched over Kara. "Is she going to be fine?" Kal-El softly asked.

"I hope so." Lara sighed gravely. "This form of treatment is what you would call 'first aid'. She will need time to fully recover and that's only from her physical injuries. We do not know of her mental state."

"I'm just happy she's not dead, like my parents." Kal-El quickly admitted.

Lara thought he was referring to her and Jor and offered Kal a smile. "We're not dead Kal, you and Kara are alive and our spirit lives on through you."

For a moment Kal-El felt his own spirit rise at his biological's mother's encouraging words. But the sorrow came shooting it back down.

Jor-El reappeared next to them. "It must've been quite an impact for Kara to be in a condition that she is." He mused out loud. "I've done some calculations and the transfer of kinetic energy needed to hurt a Kryptonian like so meant that there was probably an explosion of some sort."

Kal-El felt his heart contract, he willed himself to try not to cry. To his surprise it wasn't very hard trying to supress the primal desire to do so. He just closed his eyes and sighed. His Kryptonian brain succeeded in numbing his emotions and was now burying them deep.

"There was an explosion." Kal-El affirmed. "And a crater too."

"Hmm," Jor replied, "I know that this area is sparsely populated but there is always a risk. Was anyone hurt Kal?"

Kal-El thought long about how he was going to answer. _That is a loaded question _he thought to himself. His brain's numbing damage control and his pride took over. He didn't want to hear any pity, he didn't want to be comforted, nor did he want to distress the holographic imitations of his biological parents. This burden was his and his only to carry alone.

"No. No-one got hurt."

* * *

Clark didn't go to school for the week after the accident at his farm. It was the first time since he can remember that he missed a day of school. No-one called home though, since it wasn't uncommon for students to miss the last few days before Christmas break. And his grades were still at their usual standards.

Someone did call though: Lana. Clark genuinely appreciated her concern for him, she called to check if everything was okay. He assured her in a monotone voice that everything was fine, and he was alright. He told her that it was a small family issue that he had to leave her, and Lana bless her understood that. They never brought up the kiss they shared on the eve of the dance, Clark sensed that she might want to talk about it but he said goodbye before she got the chance to explore the subject. For Clark, talking about their kiss would remind him of the fact that he loved her, it would remind him of the fact that he was with Lana instead of his parents. Of how he failed to be at the farm to save them, or at least talk to them in their final moments. Not for a second did he blame Lana at all, but rather himself. It was at that moment after his and Lana's brief phone call that he almost cried, _almost_. But he didn't. _There's no point in_ crying he steeled himself to believe, it would not bring anything back.

Clark was still watching over his cousin who was still recovering in the medical chamber of his ship. He could see that her bruises and cuts were fading away, and her vitals were stable. He felt relieved, he didn't know if he could stand to lose any more members of his family. He tried to keep himself distracted from his grief with monitoring Kara, he even cleaned up his farm, and using the database on his ship he tried to learn as much about Krypton as he could. He was refusing to mourn.

But there was still the matter of burying his parents, or rather erecting a memorial to them since there was nothing left of them to bury. He wanted to make Jon's and Martha's memorial to be special, unique.

Then an idea came to his head, he had learnt about the building crystals Kryptonians used. Jor-El left some in the cargo hold for him to use, and he used them to grow a block of what looked like obsidian, and the tools needed to cut and carve the material.

He got to work. He used the tools to meticulously carve, cut and craft a very small, hand-sized model of his farm. Everything was recreated in perfect in detail; the barn, the house, the water tower and even the animals and wheat field was included in beautiful accuracy. Using his enhanced vision Clark went to microscopic lengths to make everything as detailed as possible from the flowers his mother planted to his dad's tractor. Clark's memory was perfect, and he felt like he owed it to his deceased parents that he use his perfect memory to make the minute recreation of his farm as lifelike as it can be.

Usually when doing chores or assignment projects he used his super speed to finish it as quickly as possible, but in this instance he took his time. He didn't want to make a single mistake and this was a complicated job any Earth machine couldn't even hope to do. He was sure the Kryptonian building crystals could make a model of his farm close to life but he wanted to do this himself. When he was finished the model, he then used paint to vividly colour in everything as best as he could. When he was satisfied with the results, he then used the building crystals to completely encase the recreation of his farm in a crystal-clear bottle made out of near-unbreakable Kryptonian glass.

This was his marvellous memorial to his parents, a miniature and bottled version of the Kent Farm. He prayed to God for his parents to rest in peace and hid the memorial away before he cried.

* * *

Clark's phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at the phone number, it was Lana again. He answered it,

"Hi Lana."

"Hey you." came her voice.

"Why did you call?"

Lana exasperated a sigh, "Clark, do you even have to ask that? I'm worried sick about you. You never called, and no-one's seen you since the dance."

"Lana, I told you, I'm fine."

"Alright, can I see you? I want to hug you." she said in a soft and vulnerable tone.

"Okay." he agreed rather reluctantly. "Where are you?"

"I'm at my house."

"I'll be there."

"Thank you." she sighed, "When are you gonna get here?"

"Right now."

"What? Oh." Lana looked out of her bedroom window and saw Clark standing outside her house. She opened her window and Clark jumped into it. Immediately she pulled Clark into a hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"I missed you Clark."

"Me too." he replied as he inhaled the scent of her hair. Clark was in turmoil, he still loved Lana, but now with all that's happened he can't bring himself to be _in love_ with her. That would mean having to show heavy emotion and vulnerability. Unacceptable. That would only lead to him opening up about what happened to his parents and breaking down in front of Lana. He would always care for Lana, but he can't give her his whole. He can't give her what she deserved. The naïve boy that took the girl he loved to his loft is not here anymore. His pride and instinct had erected a Kryptonian Fortress around his bleeding heart that nothing was allowed to escape nor enter. He could not and would not allow himself to become vulnerable to anyone. Not even Lana.

* * *

Princess Diana stood watching over her best friend Mala. They were in the healing isle and Mala was receiving purple ray treatment; a magical beam of light that heals injuries. Mala had been injured heavily after sparring with her, Mala played it down in good nature but Diana's blows were a lot more damaging than any other Amazon's. Everyone knew the Princess was powerful but they tried to treat her like the normal girl she wanted to feel like. This accident was another reminder of the fact that Diana is not like the rest of her sisters. When she was growing up, they did everything they could to make her feel like she belonged. They showered her with love, camaraderie, and the feeling of being one with them. Diana was grateful for that, her sisters and her mother loved her more than she will ever need them to.

She was thankful to the gods for everything; for her family, for her home, and for her gifts. Moreover she was thankful for the fact that she never experienced what all her sisters did all those years ago. But it was a thing they all had in common, she could never really share their sorrow or form a common bond with her sisters over that since she wasn't born then. Diana was only 18 summers old. She was at a stage in life when she began to form questions transcendent of what her mother or any of her teachers could answer. Her mother would think of these questions as naïve; Diana was the most innocent woman in all of Themyscira. But out of that innocence came inquisitiveness. She wanted to know what the outside world was like, she wanted to see what women and men were like. The Amazons have been sheltered from the outside world for millennia and Diana wanted to know if there was more to living than being in Themyscira for all of her immortal lifespan.

All of these questions would only lead to the same ones she has been pondering all of her life. _Why is she here? Why did the gods grant me these gifts? _She's already heard answers for both of them: she is here because the gods decided to grant her mother's prayers for a daughter, and she has gifts because the gods had higher callings planned for her; although they never specified what type of plans.

_Higher Callings. _That clawed at the back of her mind_. _

What kind of higher callings? Being the Queen of Themyscira? Being a goddess herself? Being an Amazon envoy into the Patriarch World? Not likely. Possibility after possibility rooted in her head, and she always dreamed of what each scenario would be like. She didn't want to be a goddess; she wanted to be one with her family and she didn't desire to be worshipped on a pantheon and have to wield the power that Olympians do. Being the ruler of Themyscira was in the same line of thinking; she didn't want to be revered, or bowed down to. She wanted to be _normal_. She wanted for her sisters to be like her, and she like them. But she knows that whatever duty is thrust upon her she must accept it when the time came.

Her mind was in a swirl, and she needed to do some thinking.

Diana called to the chief healer of the Amazons, "Epione?"

"Princess?"

"Please notify me when Mala is healed, I am leaving for a while."

"As you wish Princess."

Diana lifted off the floor and floated over to the open balcony, she flew straight up high over the healing isle until it was small from her view. This was the physical gift she was most thankful for to the gods; the Gift of Flight. Flying among the clouds and the birds filled her with a sense of thrill and freedom she could never get on the ground. But for all the joy it gave her it just served as one of the reminders of her being different to anyone else.

One of the things she always prayed for in secret was that she always longed for someone that could always fly with her and share these moments of thrill and serenity. A kindred spirit so to speak, someone that didn't make her feel so different.

Air currents flowed around her figure as she sliced through cloud after cloud.

She closed her eyes as increased her speed, faster, higher. Shock cones formed around her waist as she broke the sound barrier with a boom. Her lips curved, up here in the sky she could be happily, innocently and blissfully carefree…but she was alone.

Suddenly she stopped and floated in place, she opened her eyes and she could see the giant eagle sentinels in the immediate airspace. She had reached the magical barrier that covered the island of Themyscira. She sighed, she knew this was the signal that she had to turn back. The magical barrier led her to envision Themyscira as a beautiful nation sealed off in a magical bubble of protection like a city in a bottle.

She looked down so she could see the landmass. From up here her island home looked so small. She held out her hand in front of her and she could cover it completely. Her mind got back to the reason she was here again, no, not in the sky; but rather the deeper issue of _Why am I here? Why do I exist? _The island, despite of how magnificent it is just looked so insignificantly small to her at this moment. Was she just destined to live in this paradise for all of her existence? The fact that she had to stop her flying a moment ago reminded her of the embellished birds in golden cages the Amazons sometimes kept for occasions. Was she a just gilded bird to be kept in this cage?

She closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer to Lady Athena. Not for answers, but instead for guidance; she knew where she might get the answers to her questions from.

* * *

Kal-El was once again checking up on Kara's condition. It's been some time since the crash and he has slept very little since then. He tried to keep himself occupied by wandering around Smallville and watching everyone get on during the cheerful holiday season. He could've found out Kara's condition from the monitor screens but for some reason he wanted to talk to his biological parents, or to anyone for that matter. Ever since he left Lana he's been feeling more alone than he ever has before. He told himself it was for the best, Lana deserved someone better than a closed-off and distant alien.

He activated the holograph projector and asks Lara, "How is she doing?"

Lara smiles at him like a mother would to a son. "She's recovering, albeit slowly."

"How long do you think it'll take for her to wake?"

"At this comatose state, it could be weeks before she opens her eyes." she answered.

"Oh." Kal-El muttered downtrodden.

"Kal, it is remarkable that she actually alive at all." she said in a soothing tone. "Her injuries were most grave. But having said that it might help if she was exposed to as much sunlight as possible."

"Oh, it's winter right now. The sun's barely up and usually it's cloudy."

Jor-El appeared at Lara's side. "It might help if you move Kara to a location where solar energy is readily accessible." It occurred to Kal-El that his father was a man of few words and only appeared when he had something important to say.

Kal wondered where he could take Kara. At this point he would do anything to help his cousin, but he has to make sure nobody knows she's here. He could take her to the Sahara, but the idea of sandstorms weren't particularly appealing to him. And it there has to be continuous sunlight to maximise the chance of Kara's recovery. Suddenly he had a brainwave.

"I could take her to the Antarctic." He suggested.

"The Antarctic?" Jor and Lara asked.

"Yes. The Land of the Midnight Sun." he explained. He had read about it in a geography book, at around December close to the South Pole the sun in the Antarctic never sets.

Jor-El's and Lara's consciousness downloaded some knowledge about the Antarctic from the internet and agreed to Kal-El's plan. He would retrofit the ship with the crystals and he would use it so he could move Kara to the Antarctic. There she could recover in 24 hours of continuous sunlight.

The plan was a good one; the Antarctic was an ideal place for a Kryptonian alien to reside in since it was totally uninhabited and the cold doesn't really have an adverse effect on their dense skin. But before they could set it to motion Jor and Lara needed to know if Kal's Earth parents would be okay with it. He offered up the excuse that they were on a Christmas vacation for two and he was going to be alone for a few weeks. Jor and Lara accepted his reasoning but they didn't take it without doubt. Using knowledge from the internet they learnt that Christmas was an Earth holiday where families would be together. It did not take long for them to question Kal-El.

Kal-El was watching the screens when Lara asked him, "Kal, can we speak to Jon and Martha?"

Kal-El's heart skipped a beat, "Why?"

"We want to know what they think about the situation and of Kara."

"I told you they're on vacation." He replied.

"Can you contact them at all? Don't they have any communication devices with them?"

Kal looked ruefully at Lara, she could see in his eyes and the fact that he did not answer that he was trying to hide something. She pressed, "Kal? Is there something you're not telling us?"

"No, nothing." he blurted rather hastily.

Lara furrowed her eyebrows and sent a piercing gaze at Kal, Kal tried to tell himself that she was just a projection and this should not bother him, but it did.

"Clark Jerome Kent," Lara started with a steely tone, it was the first time she had ever addressed Kal-El by his Earth name, and it reminded him of when Martha used to scold him. "Where is Jonathan and Martha Kent?" she demanded.

Clark couldn't believe it, this A.I. projection of his biological mother put the fear in him just as much as Martha ever could. He could never lie to Martha, and he knew know that he could never lie to Lara neither. He never thought of it, but Lara, even in A.I. form was her mother as much as Martha was.

Clark gulped. "My parents are dead, gone. Died when Kara arrived, the crash destroyed the whole farm." he said with pain in his voice.

"Oh Rao," reacted both Jor and Lara. They were just computer programs, but due to the level of sophistication they were capable of grasping the undecipherable emotions living beings felt. Jor and Lara knew what it was like to lose a world, and by sending Kal-El away they hoped they could save him from that kind of suffering.

"We wish we could take your pain away." Lara softly offered.

Kal-El looked at the projections of his biological parents. Two pairs of cerulean blue eyes were looking back at him and he could see love. He wasn't seeing two computer programs stored up in a chip, but what he did see was a mother and father that cared deeply for their son. A single stream of salty emotion started falling from his eye. Suddenly the feelings that he bottled up threatened to come back but he quelled them.

"Thank you." Kal barely managed to say in a weak voice.

* * *

Princess Diana came to visit Menalippe, she was known as the Oracle of the Amazons. She had been blessed by Lady Athena with the gift of foreseeing fates and destinies. This was not a gift that the Amazons had much use for since they had lived in relative peace without outside influence and will continue to do so for the rest of eternity. But every now and then Menalippe would be consulted if any dark clouds loomed in the horizon.

"Menalippe? It's Diana." Diana called as she entered the Temple of Athena.

"Princess Diana! How good to see you!" Menalippe greeted as she joined the Princess with a hug. Usually everyone bowed to Diana but she was so friendly that the Amazons were very comfortable in her presence.

"You too Menalippe." Diana laughed.

"To what do I owe this visit to?"

Diana looked hesitantly at her, "Well, lately I have been having questions that I find no definite answers to."

Menalippe gestured for them two sit down on a divan to continue their conversation. "What are the nature of these questions?"

"About my existence, about who I am." Diana explained.

Menalippe raised her eyebrows at Diana, prompting her to elaborate, "Oracle, I am happy here in Themyscira. I love all of my sisters. But…" Diana paused.

"But what Princess?"

"The Gods gifted me with all these gifts, and I am thankful for them as I am with everything else they have provided us. But what are they for? I don't see them being of use here on the island, my mother doesn't have these gifts but she is a great ruler anyway. I feel as if they are not being used to their whole potential. The Gods mentioned that I would have greater purposes in serving them-"

"You want to know what your destiny is." Menalippe interjected.

"Yes. I came here for help in finding out so." Diana answered surely.

The Oracle admired the Princess curiosity and desire to learn. She was certainly making good use of Athena's Wisdom. Menalippe stretched out her hands, "Give me your hands Princess."

Diana placed her hands in Menalippe's. "Now close your eyes."

Diana closed her eyes and Menalippe did the same. She started to probe and try and seek out images and hints that could pertain to Diana's destiny. This continued for a while,

"Princess, your future is extremely difficult to see. I cannot find any clues, this is most strange."

"Why?"

"I am not sure, but Lady Athena's gift to me is very powerful. I will find something."

They sat there with eyes closed for a few minutes as the Oracle continued her search. This was very unusual, it was taking a long time. Lady Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom and it was as if something, someone was overriding her power in the Oracle and interfering with what she was trying to do. Another god maybe.

Suddenly Diana's vision started to enlighten from the black of her eyelids. She could see something in the distance, she tried to concentrate; the image was vague, yet clear at the same time.

Diana could see a couple, they were in a loving embrace as they watched the orange sunset over the ocean. It was beautiful. She could see in their blue eyes that the man and the woman were in love with each other. She could not see who the couple were but she saw that the man was tall and had black hair, while the woman had ebony tresses flowing down her shoulders.

What does she see before her? Who are these two people on this beach? She had come to Menalippe to ask help about finding out her destiny but she did not expect this. She was expecting splendour visions of battle and of leading the Amazons to glory. But what she sees before her not like anything she had ever dreamed of. Her destiny now was even more unclear to her.

Diana and Menalippe opened their eyes at the same time.

"Did you see anything Princess?" Menalippe asked seeing the unravelled look in Diana's eyes.

"Yes, I did." Diana answered gingerly.

"What was it?"

Diana explained to Menalippe what she saw. Menalippe was just as perplexed as her.

"That is most strange Princess."

"I know, what could it mean?"

"I do not know, but men are not to be trusted. Regardless of what you saw. I'm afraid your destiny will include them."


	9. Chapter 9

_Dear Diary,_

_This life is not easy. It's hard work. Today I had an aching desire to 'assess' the fusion cycle I assembled for one of my projects. But no, I have to study every day and lately father has enrolled me onto one of the most gruelling fighting classes in the city. I barely have any free time if any, and when I do my father forbids me from 'interloping' with any males. Yesterday I was with Kor-Vul studying in the great public library when my father came looking for me. He warned that members of the Science Guild, more so members of the House of El shouldn't be so openly mingling with the Workers. _

_Shame really, Kor-Vul is a very handsome, polite and intelligent male; he would make a great scientist if he had the chance. He loves science and his dream is to be an artisan of some sort. But he told me that his father, his grandfather and his great grandfather all the way to the earliest Vuls worked in the deep-core mines so abiding by the birthing matrix he must follow in their footsteps when he comes of age. _

_It's moments like these that it's evidently convincing that the segregation we impart is because of a fear of change rather than the "Paramount Social Efficiency" my teachings tell me that Krypton and Kryptonians strive for. _

_I remember a week ago when uncle Jor-El presented his findings that Krypton would explode. His findings were completely dismissed as heresy and Uncle Jor was stripped of his position. I understood why the council did so, Uncle Jor is a very radical thinker and it was only a matter of time when one of his proposals went too far in the Council's eyes._

_Still, I am thankful to Rao for the life we lead. We want for nothing and we are not endangered. I just wish my family spends more time together instead of devoting so much of their time to the work we do. I understand that research and development is important to Krypton, but we are already one of the most advanced races in the galaxy and it wouldn't hurt to have some time for fun. Uncle Jor and Aunt Lara together with my parents have barely been out of the laboratory lately; they're feverishly working on something and even I'm not allowed to lay my eyes on it. They said it was important and no-one must know of it. Oh well, it must be a contract commissioned by the High Council for our house must complete in order to regain some credibility._

_Tomorrow I will get to look after my little cousin Kal for a whole day, exciting! He doesn't say much though, he just eats a lot. How in Rao's name can a baby eat so much?! Then afterwards father will finally show me what he has been working on with Uncle Jor. That I am not looking forward to very much. I have had enough science for a week. _

_-Kara Zor-El_

* * *

The sleeping body opens her eyes, immediately her surroundings are alien to her. But it still looks Kryptonian to her. She sees that the walls are white, not the grey she usually wakes up to. Her sleeping blanket is not over her. Intense white lights are beaming down above her and she tries to move her arms to try and look for anything to put over her eyes. To her dismay her arms are restrained to the bed she is lying on. She looks around, this is definitely not her bedroom, there are screens all around her and wires are stuck to parts of her body.

* * *

"NO!" Clark shouts at the top of his lungs, "I'm coming! Just hold on!"

Clark starts running faster and faster, but the meteorite seems to be increasing speed with every stride he takes. "Mom! Dad! Please! Don't!" Clark can almost touch them with an outstretched hand, he can see their happy faces. Jon is watching TV and Martha is making a nice pie…

Too late, a flash of white light then everything is gone. Clark falls to his knees and the tears threaten to fall. In his head, he hears a faint thud, he concentrates his senses on this intriguing staccato. A minute, maybe two. The beat increases every second and he discerns what it is. It's his cousin's heartbeat, it's the fastest it's been since she was here.

* * *

Kara saw an attractive-looking black-haired young male sitting on a chair next to her. His eyes are closed and he must be sleeping. She has never seen this man before and her blood is pumped to her extremities. Where is she? Who is this man? Why is she being monitored? Why is she tied to the bed?

* * *

She was supposed to be babysitting her little cousin Kal-El today. She put him to sleep an hour ago but from the looks of things she must've been kidnapped or something horrific of that nature. _Oh Rao! Where is Kal-El?!_

Her instincts took hold, it was either fight or flight and Kryptonians can't fly. With all her strength she tries to free her arms. To her surprise, the restraints on her wrists buckle and snap and she can move her arms again. She pulled herself up and proceeded to rip off the wires on her body and the other pair of restraints on her legs.

* * *

Clark quickly realised that Kara is waking and snaps out of his nap. That was as much sleep as he's had for days; sleep is something he desperately needs but he staves it off as much as he can because of the unforgiving nightmares that attack him. He opened his groggy eyes and adjusts them to the light. He saw Kara on the bed, she's up and she's launching herself towards him.

* * *

Kara moved fast to head-butt the man in the nose. She pins the man to the floor with her knees and puts a firm hand on his throat. _"Who are you?!"_

* * *

Clark is taken by surprise, it's the first time he's ever felt a chokehold and he hasn't even woken up fully yet. "I…I…I can't-" he barely croaked.

* * *

Kara didn't give him a chance to plead his case, Kal-El might be in grave danger. She released his throat to give him two pile-driving hits to the ribs, but it was like hitting a steel wall and her knuckles redden in pain. _"Owww! Where am I?! Who are you?!" _She demands.

* * *

Clark is in a tight spot here, he can't say anything due to his not knowing what to say and he can't understand anything Kara says. And he knew that Kara might hurt herself if she tried to punch him harder. He tried to bat off her arms but she easily pulled a reversal on him, turning him on his stomach with his arms roped behind his back.

* * *

Kara's normally contained temper was threatening to spill, this man won't answer. _"Rao help me I won't ask again, who are you, where am I and where is Kal-El!"_ she shouts at his ears with gritted teeth.

* * *

Clark heard his Kryptonian name at the end of the angry sentence. Finally, a breakthrough! He used his strength to push Kara off him and gets up to his feet. Kara once more launched herself at him but he takes hold of her wrists and puts her in some sort of bear hug.

* * *

"_Let me go! Fiend!_" Kara struggles to free herself. "_Kal-El!" _she calls out in a cry,_ "I'm coming!"_

* * *

"Chill Kara! Kal-El is fine!" Clark says as he looks at her with a calm expression that hopefully can cool her down.

Kara registers the names coming off the man's lips and stops her struggling. She needed to know where Kal is, where she is and this man can't speak without a pulse. Kara would get him to spill then she would exact revenge if need be. There is no mercy when anyone endangers her family.

Clark lets her free and immediately puts his hands above his head in a gesture of surrender and gingerly moves towards the command console. Kara's eyes were trained on all his movements and her body was coiled to strike. Very very slowly, Clark presses a button on the console and turns on the holograph projector.

Lara is the first to appear, "_Kara! You're finally awake! How are you?" _she asks in relief.

Kara is caught like a deer in headlights. "_Aunt Lara! Where are we?! Who is this man?! I can't find Kal-El." _she frantically blurts out after she collects herself.

Lara realises that the crash must've had an effect on Kara's memories.

"_Kara, calm yourself. It's clear that you have some sort of memory loss."_

"_Memory loss?! What do you mean? What happened? Is Kal-El alright?"_

"_Everything will be explained, just take a deep breath." _Lara says as Kara starts to hyperventilate.

Clark, despite the initial shock of meeting his cousin for the first time finds the situation oddly bemusing. He can't understand a thing they say but he's slightly amused at Kara's outward reaction. He realises it will some time before everything becomes clear to Kara and he takes the chance to sit back down on the chair and rest his eyes.

* * *

It's been half an hour now of Kara and Lara talking. Clark noticed how Kara's facial expression became more and more distraught as Lara explained the details to her as the conversation went on. He didn't know which particular parts they were touching on but when he noticed Kara's blue eyes seem to glisten over that's when he thought Lara was explaining Krypton's demise.

After some more talking, Lara walks over to Clark with Kara in tow. "Kal, this is your cousin. She doesn't understand English but she wants you to know that she's very sorry for attacking you."

Clark gave a smile, "That's okay. No harm done anyway," he assures as Kara looked to Lara for a translation.

"_He says not to worry." _explained Lara in Kryptonian. "_Why don't you offer the gesture I taught you?"_

Kara stretches out an open hand to offer what Lara termed a 'handshake'. It was a gesture of greeting she explained. Krypton didn't have such customs so she found it a little strange. Clark shakes her hand and introduces himself,

"Hello Kara, I'm Kal-El."

After some meaningful seconds the two cousins finally broke the handshake. Clark tried to start the conversation first, "So uh, how are you?"

"_I'm fine." _replied Kara as Lara translates the dialogue between them.

"How was your trip?"

"_I don't remember a thing."_

"Oh, umm…"

Awkward. Clark gave the back of his head a rub as Kara looked down pensively at the floor. She remembered their earlier meeting and she's still coming to terms with the fact that the little child she cradled is now a grown man.

"_You're strong." _Kara commented.

"I know." replied Clark. Suddenly it came to him, Kara is like her and she too will be developing the gifts he has the longer she spends time on Earth. "Are you feeling anything weird about yourself at all?" He asked with concern.

"_Not particularly, but I seem to see brighter and feel stronger. Apart from that I'm fine."_

Clark sighed in relief, he mentally gave himself a pat on the back for suggesting the Antarctic since it is deathly quiet here. He used the crystals to erect a settlement of some sort which thankfully blocked out any outside noise, otherwise Kara might faint from when her senses get finally assaulted.

Clark turned to Lara, "How long do you think before she starts, you know?" he asked as he looks over to Kara.

At this point Jor appeared at Lara's side again, obviously to say something scientific. "Kal, I estimate it would be a week before the powers that you have start to manifest themselves in Kara, but she will not be as powerful as you in all respects."

"Why?"

"Kara was not a free birth, her genes are optimised to be a scientist like the rest of us. She will need to adapt to the environment of Earth since she didn't grow up here." he explained.

"I see."

"She will need help when she finally develops her abilities."

"Of course," Clark acknowledged. He remembered the time when her deceased mother came to school and helped him get through the fit he had. "I'll be happy to help her."

"Excellent," Jor agreed. "And you can take this an opportunity to familiarise yourself with her."

"What's she like? I mean when she was on Krypton?" he asked.

Jor seemed to ponder for a second before answering. "Kara was always a shy and modest girl. She was very talented of course, but she seemed to be aspiring for more than just being a scientist. And she always was eager to see you, it's as if having a baby cousin brought out a side of her that she only kept to herself."

"She doesn't seem very open," Clark observed, "a bit reserved maybe."

"That's a personality trait all Kryptonians share, we were very repressive with our emotions because we saw them as unnecessary."

Jor's words hit home with Clark. Even when he grew up on Earth as a human he had a lot more in common with Kryptonians than he thought. The loss of his parents and home hit him hard, and he pushed down all his emotions as a defense mechanism. But what about Kara? She's lost all that she's loved too, and her home is just as destroyed. Furthermore, her memory loss must've accentuated the shock of it all. What turmoil she must be going through right now. Clark was surprised at how good she kept control of herself all this time; one day you're a teenager and the next you wake up and everything you knew is gone. He knew from first-hand experience what living through that was like. Yes, he had a lot more in common with his cousin than the everyday human.

"Kal?" Lara asked,

"Yeah?"

"Kara wants to learn English, can you give her some time to grasp it before speaking to her again?" she requested.

"Uh, sure." Clark said, he doesn't know how long it'll take her but he's slightly disappointed that he won't get to talk to his cousin for a while despite the lingering awkwardness between them. "How long will she take?"

"Approximately an hour." Lara responded.

"What?!" gasped Clark, "An hour?"

"Yes," Lara nods, "she is an El after all." she stated with pride, mildly amused at Kal's reaction.

An hour?! Seriously?! Clark knew Kryptonians were smart but an hour to learn a new language was on some other level. He was expecting a few weeks but an hour? Woah he thought to himself.

* * *

Clark took the opportunity to take a two hour-long nap, to his surprise there were no nightmares this time. He was woken from his nap by a strange voice,

"Kal-El?"

"Huh?"

"I've finished learning your language." Kara said to him.

Clark blinked upon hearing Kara speak English for the first time, "How long did it take you?" he asked quickly.

"47 minutes according to the timepiece. I took the rest of the time learning about Earth's history."

Clark raised a bemused eyebrow at her, her accent was very intriguing to say the least. "Where did you learn English from?"

"English is originally from medieval England correct?" she explained as Clark nodded. "So I adopted their dialect and mannerisms in speaking the English language." she said with a _very_ convincing Tudor-slash-Victorian accent.

Clark couldn't help but break out into a smile and chuckle; his Kryptonian cousin sounded like Queen Elizabeth!

"What is it that you find amusing?" Kara asks.

"Nothing." Clark said with a wry smile.

"All right."

Clark snorted, he found the whole irony of an alien girl speaking like Juliet Capulet so amusing.

"Kal-El, what is it that you find so humorous?" Kara asked with irritation.

"Nothing!" he said through giggles.

"Kal-El!" she demanded.

"All right all right," he conceded, "I just found your accent slightly strange."

"Care to explain why?" she asked with her arms crossed.

"It's just, I don't know, it's just out of place."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for once we're not in England." he argued.

"But the landmass we're on is not a part of any sovereign nation, so it would be logical to adopt the articulation of those who invented the language." Kara _eloquently _countered. Clark thought her reasoning was very valid and sound, certainly very in-character for a member of an advanced race. But the novelty of it all was still there, and he once again broke out into a laugh.

"Kal," Kara warned, he noticed that her tone was becoming more menacing rather than annoyed. "Are you finding ridicule in me for who I am?"

Clark's face straightened up instantly. He realised that being logical is what Kara was brought up to be like, she was programmed to be blunt and calculating and it was very hard for her to override that given what she learnt lately. He needed to apologise. "I'm sorry Kara, I just didn't expect it that's all. I didn't mean to offend you." he said sincerely.

Kara's face softened at his apology, there was something in her cousin's demeanour that made her feel relaxed. Maybe it was because she's never met someone who wasn't always straight-faced and forthright like all Kryptonians were. "I suppose I could change the accent to American, or French. Even Greek maybe, it said in one internet article that when men find women with an exotic accents such as Greek they are allured and aroused. Much in the manner of how in the animal kingdom peacocks are drawn-"

Clark cut her off. "No that's fine, really. You can keep the English accent, just tone it down a little. Make it more modern maybe?"

"I'm not sure as to what you propose?"

"I mean like make the accent more up to date and less obvious, surely there are some media that you can use to you know how," Clark struggled to explain what he meant. "Basically what I mean is to make it seem like you're from England and not from Shakespeare."

"I'll try." she offered. "I'm sorry about Jonathan and Martha Kent." she said remorsefully. Lara told her of what happened when she arrived and she felt guilt at being the reason why it happened.

Clark was moved by her apology, he assured her, "It's alright, it was an accident, wasn't your fault." He tried to keep the conversation going, "What was all that stuff about Greeks and peacocks though?"

"When I was trying to understand the concept of accents and their inflection I came across this piece of writing that highlighted the reaction of Western males regarding females from other parts of the world, such as Greece. The article didn't elaborate further but I think this behaviour might be explained that on a biological and psychological level it might be due to the glamour effect of female Greek mythology characters such as Helen of Troy, the goddess Aphrodite and such on a male's selection process."

"Oh." Clark muttered. Not for one second will he ever doubt his cousin's scientific credentials. He can't argue with her either, he's never met anyone out of Smallville except for Kara and he had to admit someone exotic could be attractive to him. "Did you have accents on Krypton?"

"No, we did not." She informed him. "It was a very uniform society. It was much less 'multicultural' than Earth." Clark wondered what it must be like living in a society where you couldn't make a difference because you were part of a system. "What was it like?" he further inquired with a soft voice.

"It was," the memory of her last coherent days in Krypton came to her mind "it was restricted and I felt as if we could achieve more if we tried to change. Your parents tried to spearhead that philosophy but," she faltered; suddenly the impact of the loss of her world came to her again and her voice choked on her throat,

"It doesn't matter now, that world is gone."

Clark saw the barely contained pain return to her eyes. He knew what he had to do, he drew close to her and pulled her in for a comforting embrace.

Kara, taken aback widened her eyes in surprise and her first reaction is tense up and push Kal-El away, but she doesn't.

Kal at first can't fully rationalise why he jumped to hug Kara instead of saying something humans would like 'I'm sorry for your loss'. But he remembered how he saw sadness flash in her eyes as Lara talked to her and now the sadness was back. It was the same look he had in his eyes when he last looked at himself in the mirror; the look of someone who's lost everyone they've loved. He knew why he hugged Kara now, it was to silently offer comfort and condolence to someone that is obviously in sorrow.

Somehow he felt that mere words of condolence wouldn't be able to carry the same power that a physical embrace would and he hoped a hug could express his sympathy. He was never used to open and verbal expressions of emotion and Kara never knew how to. But he remembered how Jor and Lara offered him the same comfort and he was very grateful for it; it was very moving for members of an emotionless race to show empathy like they did. He's just merely showing the same kindness to someone who needs it.

Over the past few weeks, Clark trained himself to never show vulnerability as long as he could help it. It was just too painful to do so; it was the reason he broke up with Lana even when her heart was so open to him. But with Kara it was different, he didn't feel the pain he felt for himself. He felt pain for her. In a way she was also the last of her kind, the last Kryptonian female in the galaxy. But now she was just his cousin who's lost all everything she had except for him. He felt compelled, obligated and duty-bound to try and offer her comfort because he can, and it would make him feel good if he was able to do so.

"Kal?" Kara asked mid-embrace.

"Yeah?" he said as he pulled away.

Kara never knew what this was like, this open sharing of feelings. The most she ever had close to this back on Krypton was a diary that she only kept to herself as an outlet. But that didn't mean she didn't appreciate what he did. He did it because he can. She barely knew Kal, but he never hesitated to make her feel loved. It was what Krypton lacked, it was what she always longed for in her family.

She looked sincerely at him with those blue eyes of hers and in Kryptonian said softly, "_Thank you_."

Kal-El didn't understand what she said, but he didn't need to. He knew what she meant.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ _I didn't plan on Clark and Kara's first meeting to take a whole chapter. R__ight now they're all they have and I felt the need to create a strong bond between them. In canon Kara is a Red(rage) Lantern and she and Clark don't exactly treat each other like close family. __I'm not going to write them like that, N52 is dark and depressing enough as it is. I know the story has seen Clark undergo heartbreak but I think he needs to understand pain and loss before he takes up his mantra and before he finds happiness. Speaking of dark and depressing, check out the selfie cover of Superman/Wonder Woman #11. It's adorable._


	10. Chapter 10: The Year of Superman

**3 MONTHS LATER**

"Harder! You're hitting like a girl!"

"Oh yeah? What about this?"

Kara unleashed a burst of heat vision that caught Clark unawares. She had come to master the skill almost as effortlessly as one of her science theories. The intensity of her beam was not as powerful as Clark's, but it was enough to melt the ice sheet beneath him and the frozen lake they were sparring on swallowed him up.

An arm broke out of the surface, and a drenched Clark dragged himself up. "That's dirty Kara," he whined.

"It was a perfectly valid tactic, cousin." she countered. "I was taking advantage of the environment."

"Really? Well in that case…" Clark blew a gust of wind on his cousin, completely encasing her in ice. This was a new ability that revealed itself when he was out sprinting in the Antarctic expanse. His heavy breaths of exertion turned whatever was in front of him into ice. He shot his own burst of heat at Kara, freeing her from her popsicle prison. Her teeth was gritted and Clark was grinning unrepentantly at her.

"That was not funny, Kal-El."

"Uh yeah it was." he said as Kara punched him in the shoulder wiping the grin from his face. "Ouch!"

"Now that was funny." she said with a smile.

Kara at this point was peaking in strength, it had been months since her first training session with Clark and it had gone well on her opinion. It offered a distraction from the real world for them. Kara was eager to start her training and asked Clark to be her personal punching bag. He obliged, since he couldn't feel her blows anyway. But when she became stronger and stronger and started bruising Clark's skin he had to find a way to scale up the challenge. Kara offered to train him in Kryptonian martial arts and he accepted, slowly becoming more proficient in close combat. He also spent some time learning Kryptonian, he wasn't as quick as Kara learning English but he could hold a fluent conversation with her in Kryptonian. Sometimes they would speak Kryptonian just as a means for her to connect back to her old life.

They used the Kryptonian crystals to expand the icy settlement they lived in into a home of some sorts. For Kara it was her first Earth home, but for Clark it was the only place he could live in. He couldn't go back to Smallville, so he just left, left everything behind and accepted the fact that Smallville represented everything in his past that he didn't want to face anymore. He didn't need to go to school and finish his education, he was Kryptonian. Sometimes he would think about what his disappearance meant for everyone, and that would lead to him tuning his ears and trying to hear what they were saying all the way from where he was. Apparently he was some sort of a mystery now, the disappearance of the Kents and their farm had created a maelstrom of rumours and speculation. The stories ranged from a gas explosion rocking the Kent farm to wild stories of alien abduction.

But he didn't care about what anybody in Smallville thought. Anybody except for one; Lana. He was concerned for her wellbeing, as was she to his. Sometimes he would hear her call out during the night asking to see him. It took every fibre of his being not to use the portal projector in the ship and transport himself back to Smallville. In the end his Kryptonian resolve to close off won out.

But despite the wall he had created, it seemed that Kara was able to break it down and force him to share some grief with her. The irony wasn't lost on him, she was supposed to be a stoic Kryptonian but she was the only one that could get him to open up.

Kara had experienced the same tragedy as he had, and she was going through the same grief that he was when his parents died. He felt that desire to help her, the instinctive reflex to protect those that he loved. He couldn't just let her wallow in pain alone if he could help it.

There was something else there as well, Kara was his cousin, so of course he was duty-bound to be there for her. Not because of family ties, but because he _can. _He remembered the life lessons his parents taught him, particularly one Sunday when they told him of the story of the Good Samaritan. That was what being there for Kara felt like, it was fleeting, but he felt like a hero. It made him feel warm inside.

* * *

**Another 3 months later.**

Clark Kent swept the table clean and wiped it down. He had found a job in some Kansas truck stop diner as a cleaner. He had decided to temporarily move out of the Antarctic and find something else to do. He drifted for a while and finally saw the opening for a dead-end job here. It didn't satisfy him, and the pay wasn't anything to get excited by, but it was something to keep him occupied and it meant he could afford a dingy apartment. He had finally decided to move on with his life and do something productive, he knew his parents wouldn't be happy if he just wallowed in the Antarctic with his cousin. Even she was doing something productive, she was always doing research as she found Earth fascinating. She found a way to turn the portal projector on Kal-El's ship into a transport machine which she used to inconspicuously travel into places all over the world. With her British accent she could easily pass off as a gap-year tourist. She caught onto Earth customs pretty quickly and was eager to acclimatise herself with her new home world with optimism. Clark worried for her sometimes but he would remember that Kara was technically twice his age and she was also near-invulnerable like him. His technically older cousin could take care of herself.

Kara's original mission to Earth was to protect and guide Kal-El as sort of a mother hen, but now he needed no such thing. So she decided to take some time to find herself and leave Kal-El to search his own path too. They were still in contact with each other and they still saw each other infrequently since they are cousins after all. She offered Kal to accompany her on her travels, but he said that travelling wasn't really his thing.

So he went on by himself, just going through the motions with no real purpose. He would walk the streets in the day and go home to the Antarctic at night. He went to the Salvation Army, who helped him with a work placement leading to him finding a job here.

He was on his way to finishing his shift when he heard a ruckus in the bar area,

Chloe, one of the waitresses looked upset at one of the patrons, "Hey! Please stop that!"

"Haha!" snorted the man, "I like it when ladies play rough!" he added with a provocative slap to Chloe's behind. He moved to grab her waist and set her down on his lap. Julie was resisting but the man was too strong.

Clark moved over to where they were and asked sternly, "Is there a problem here? Chloe?"

The man stopped grinning and looked at Clark with disdain, he eyed him up and down and took in his youthful but strong and rugged appearance. "Beat it, kid." he scoffed.

"Let her go." Clark ordered.

The man's expression turned from bemusement to disbelief, he broke out in laughter. Who was this kid to tell him what to do? "Go the hell away." he said with a slur, it's clear that he's had more than a few. The man stood up and gave Clark a forceful shove.

Clark didn't move, he just stood there like a rock glaring at the man. The man was staring back at him and the tension in the air was palpable. The man's face broke out into a smile and he doused Clark with a pint of beer.

"How's that, Clark?" the man sneered after reading Clark's name tag.

Clark wiped his face down with his hand and tightened his jaw, the man and his drinking buddies were laughing at him. To add insult to injury, the man grabbed another pint of beer and doused Chloe too. Further laughter ensued.

Something inside Clark snapped, the feeling was familiar to him. He can tolerate a lot, but he won't tolerate bullies who try to hurt those around him. Chloe was his workmate and he felt that instinct to protect her. He had felt this desire to stand up to bullies before; when he was younger and he stood up for Lana at school. He raised his arm to deliver a slap to the man with just enough controlled force to knock him out and not break his jaw, he was about to swing his palm but Chloe's hand on his coiled shoulder stopped him.

"Sweetie, don't," Chloe urged, "he's not worth it."

Clark took a half second to calm himself down and exhale. Chloe was right of course, he wasn't worth it. He used his apron to wipe himself down and walked away from the table. Chloe followed him after warning the offending man that she would call the police if he tried any more hijinks.

"I'm clocking off now, will you be okay?" Clark asked her.

Chloe smiled at him. "Yeah I'll be fine, thanks."

Clark changed out of his work clothes and walked out of the building. After what happened he needed to let off some steam so he decided to call Kara. Using a special phone she had designed, he contacted her.

"Hey cousin!" she greeted over the phone.

"Hey Kara, where are you right now?"

"I'm at the house actually." she told him.

Clark smiled, they had both taken to calling the Antarctic settlement the 'house'. They couldn't come up with a cooler name for it. "Oh, do you mind me visiting?" he asked.

"Of course not, give me a second to pinpoint you." said Kara. Clark moved to a spot where he was sure no one would see him and the phone started flashing. A portal opened in front of him and he stepped inside.

* * *

Chloe really wanted to talk to Clark after what happened, she was really gratified that Clark would stand up for her. Clark was the youngest person working in the truck stop and the fact that he would defend her against older men made her feel a pull towards him. She was going to ask him for coffee maybe. She walked out of the building to follow after Clark and saw him in the distance, he seemed to be talking on the phone. She waited for him to finish his conversation but then he moved out of sight. She walked towards where she thought Clark would be but when she reached the spot Clark was nowhere to be seen. Bewildered, she walked back inside to continue her shift.

* * *

Clark arrived at their Antarctic house and walked into the living area to see Kara doing something on a computer. She looked up and acknowledged him. "Hey Kal, how was work?"

"It was fine." he answered flatly. Seeing Kara's raise her eyebrow unconvinced, he added reluctantly "I almost got into a fight with some douchebag."

"Why? Presumably this person must've been some 'douchebag' to anger you so."

Clark chuckled, sometimes the way her cousin talked still cracked him up. "Did you learn any new accents when you were away?" he inquired.

Kara smiled, "Not just accents, but languages."

"Oh yeah?" Clark replied with a curl of his lips, he expected no less of his cousin. "Which ones did you learn?"

"It's not a matter of which ones I've learnt, Kal-El," Kara replied proudly, "it's a matter of which ones I haven't learnt."

Clark rolled his eyes and muttered in Kryptonian, "_Show-off." _

Kara chuckled. "So, Kal?" Kara began, "What happened at work?"

Clark told her about the incident with Chloe and the man. Kara listened intently at him and took note of his underlying frustration. Since coming to Earth and travelling she had gotten good at reading people under the surface. Human behaviour fascinated her as much as the Earth did.

"Why did you act the way you did?" Kara asked.

"I don't know Kara, it's just I-"

"It's because you knew you could. You knew you couldn't just stand there and let it happen, right?"

"Yeah." Clark sighed. Kara was right, he couldn't just let the guy harass Chloe if he had the power to stop it.

"Kal, what do you think you're here for?" she asked him seriously.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your purpose, I believe Uncle Jor had one for you. My father had one for me. But what do you think is _your _purpose?"

"I," Clark hesitated, "I'm not sure."

"Is it to work at a drinking establishment like you are now?" she challenged him.

"No." Clark replied. What was all this sappy stuff about destiny anyway? Why can't he just blow along life like a feather in the wind? Jor-El told him he could make his own choices.

"Then what is it?" she pressed. "Why do you think Jor-El and Aunt Lara sent you away?"

"What are you getting at Kara?" he asked slightly exasperated. "They sent me away so I could survive."

"No, Kal-El." she rebuked. "They sent you away so you could _live_. There's the difference. You're not here to mope around and wipe spilled soda. You have a higher calling to serve than customers calling for drinks."

Clark felt ashamed. "I don't know what that is Kara," he sighed with defeat in his voice, "My father told me I could choose how to live my life."

"Yes, I know." she reminded him. "You do have a choice; you can choose to drift along or you could choose to do what makes you feel right. When I was on Krypton I didn't get to choose what I wanted to do, but when I arrived here I knew I was given the chance to do whatever made me happy. You need to find that same enlightenment."

Kal-El sensed disappointment in Kara's voice. He was the last son of Krypton and he was doing nothing worthy of that. It made him feel small and he conceded, "I get what you're saying Kara, I really do. But I just don't know what to do with myself."

Kara softened her tone. She encouraged him, "You don't have to be some sort of over-achieving overlord, Kal-El. You just have to find something that fulfils you. That's what your Earth parents would want and I'm sure your biological parents would want that for you too. Isn't there anything that you wanted to do before all this happened?" she asked referring to their personal tragedies.

Clark remembered his aspirations to be a journalist. "I wanted to be a journalist." he said with a sad chuckle.

"A journalist?" Kara asked surprised.

"Yeah."

"Then why don't you go and be one?"

"It's not that simple Kara." he said timidly.

"I never said it would be." she shot back. "It won't be easy, Kal-El. But nothing worth it ever is."

Clark smiled at her, "Since when did you get so wise?"

"Oh, since I was born." she playfully replied with an air of confidence. Clark laughed.

* * *

Clark worked feverishly through the night to finish his piece. After weeks of exhaustive searching and trawling around the internet he found a listing for an intern. The company he was trying to apply for was a small start-up online journalistic website called _The Daily Planet._ Based in Metropolis, it was founded by a young entrepreneur named Perry White. He found the ad on the cusp of giving up, he had help; Chloe gave him a heads up about the opening when she connected him to her cousin Lois who was a journalist herself. Clark was very thankful of course; and Chloe offered him to talk about it over a beer, an offer he politely refused.

The ad called for a submission of creative writing that was relevant to world and to the mission the online newspaper was trying to achieve. The site wanted to offer analytic, honest and refreshing articles on modern issues like politics and human interest. What intrigued Clark was that the company didn't place significant emphasis on a candidate's qualifications or degrees but it wanted a piece of work that would prove the originality of the writer. The unorthodox selection process was indicatory of the fresh approach the newspaper wanted to take.

Clark's essay took inspiration from Kryptonian society. He wrote about how impersonal, detached and draconian the Western world was becoming due to advances in technology and government thinking. He compared modern society to that of a dystopian world where information is controlled and humans believe what they are told. It was very in tune with the times; in the dystopian world he created he wrote about how the government breaches the privacy of citizens and censors the media for the sake of protection, it drew parallels to the dealings of the NSA. But at what lengths can the government go before it becomes fascistic? Then he went on to write that sometimes humans need encouragement and a symbol of hope to overcome their fear of change, like a Martin Luther King or a Mikhail Gorbachev. After some further editing to make sure he didn't sound like too much of a conspiracy nut, he sent the PDF to the required address and faithfully waited for the email back.

* * *

Clark sat in bed and checked his emails for what seemed like the umpteenth time of the day, still nothing. He wondered if the guy who read his article just threw it in the bin after reading his paltry resume. If that was the case, at least he tried right? He was about to turn in for the night when he saw the notification on his screen, his pulse quickened. He opened the email,

_Dear Mr. Kent._

_I liked the piece you submitted to us, we were impressed by your creative comparisons and your acerbic analysis. We here at the Planet would like to have your talents on board. We'd like to meet you as soon as we can. Thank you for applying. Please contact us as soon as possible._

_Kind Regards,_

_Perry White._

Clark was in ecstasy over the news, it was the first time he's felt excited and good about himself since his parents died. Now Kara's words made sense, he felt somewhat fulfilled.

* * *

Clark's phone rang, he checked the ID; it was Perry.

"Yes Perry?" he answered.

"Kent, I have an assignment for you."

"What is it?"

"I need you to go and see a show."

Clark inwardly groaned, another 'assignment'. He never had any of the juicy stories since technically he was still an intern. Goddamn it, it's been like six months of being the intern and he yearned for the chance to finally get an article of his published on the website instead of a review on some show or event. He resigned himself to his fate, "Where and when?" he asked with feigned excitement.

"That's the spirit!" Perry enthused. "It's in Gotham, apparently it's very popular. It's a Christmas play, you'll love it kid. I'll send you the details. I want a review up ASAP."

Clark heard the line hang up and sighed deeply, anything but Christmas plays he thought to himself. This time of the year didn't exactly hold much cheer for him. The memories were still there. And Clark's memory was eidetic.

* * *

Clark sat down at his assigned seat and pulled out his notepad, the show was about to begin and the lights were dimmed. Most of the audience were seated and he could make out some of Gotham's social elite in the boxes above. Celebrities, CEOs and socialites were among them, but what caught his eye was a small family. He made it out the father to be the rich owner and the face of a multi-billion multinational company. What was the name? Wayne? That was it, Wayne Industries. The family looked sweet together, just enjoying a night out. A man, a wife and a young boy of about seven peacefully watching a play. It reminded him of the times he sat down with his parents in front of the TV on Christmas Day. With a wistful sigh, Clark turned his sight to the show and prepared to make notes.

* * *

The audience clapped and cheered, it was clear to Clark that the show was a success, and his review must reflect that. But as objective as he needed to be, he wanted no part of it. He wanted to just leave the theatre and never come back. The screenplay reminded him too much of what he lost. The family-themed Christmas play was so heartfelt and emotional that he had to force himself to separate and compartmentalise his psyche.

The journalistic part of his brain had to write about the emotional effect the play had, and the rest had to close itself off from those same effects. He knew it was hypocritical of him to personally be insensitive to the play yet professionally write about it, but in his mind that was the way it had to be. He had to write from outside the heart.

Clark finished up his notes and walked out of the now mostly empty theatre, his mind was already on the review as he walked to the bus station. Rain started to fall and thunderclaps could be heard in the distance. He looked up and gave an ironic chuckle, it seemed even the weather was playing pathetic fallacy to what Clark was feeling inside.

Abruptly, a loud bang assailed Clark's hearing and he looked around startled. The pervading noise was a high pitched _pang _instead of the low rumble of thunder. He looked around for the source of the noise, then another bang.

_Gunshots _Clark discerned. Using his x-ray vision he looked through the walls of the surrounding buildings trying to lock onto the source of the noise.

He found it. About three hundred metres away in a dark alley, two bodies on the wet ground. Rainwater wasn't the sole reason the ground they were lying on was wet.

A man with a gun. A boy, knelt over his dead parents. Terrified and in shock.

In a lighting flash Clark blurred to the alley, he stopped in front of the boy in time to absorb the bullet meant for him. The man with the gun widened his eyes in bewilderment and squeezed off the rest of the magazine.

Clark wrapped his whole body around the boy who didn't even move nor acknowledge his presence. Finally the bullets stopped coming, he looked at where the assailant stood and he saw no one. He finally recognised the boy as the one he saw earlier in the theatre. Scanning him he saw no physical injuries; physical being the key word.

He craned his neck and through the walls saw the man with the gun running away like a coward. Suddenly Clark was faced with a decision, go after the man or stay with the boy. He made the decision to do the latter when sobbing entered his ears, but not before examining the shooter to a molecular level and perfectly memorising his DNA helix.

By now the adrenaline rush of being in a life or death situation was over and Clark let go of the boy he was holding. Clark sat next to him.

"Hey?" Clark gently started. The boy didn't answer, he was in a catatonic state; staring blankly ahead with streams of tears falling from his eyes. "What's your name?" Clark softly asked.

The boy looked at him with darkened eyes. He finally spoke in a voice so quiet it emanated pure pain, "Bruce."

"Hello Bruce," Clark uttered compassionately. "My name is Clark."

Bruce looked at him, he didn't say any more but continued to quietly cry. Clark felt his own heart contract so dreadfully at the sight before him. At this point he didn't even give a damn about what happened to his own parents a year ago, the tender boy beside him just witnessed the murder of his own family. He felt his own tears coming but he stopped them, someone needed to be strong.

"I'm…I'm…I'm-" Clark was going to say something but no more words came out of his throat-blocked mouth. So he just sat there in silence.

Clark knew the pain Bruce was going through. But at the same time he didn't. Clark's own parents died in an accident, he had accepted it as a misfortunate alignment of fate that caused him a great deal of pain. But what happened to Bruce was something else, this wasn't an accident, this wasn't misfortunate. It was a conscious, artificial tragedy. The amount of suffering the young kid next to him will go through was bounds greater than Clark's. If he _could_ take it all away, he would do so in a heartbeat.

Sirens in the distance broke him out of his trance, they were getting closer and closer. Clark abruptly stood up, he knew that if he stayed the police would question him as a potential suspect. He would've stayed for the sake of the boy, but questions would arise as to how he stopped the bullets and how he got over to the scene of the crime. Those were questions he did not need, not now. He regretfully made the decision to leave Bruce there to wait for the authorities.

But before he left, there was one thing he had to give to Bruce. Was it for justice? Vengeance? Peace of mind? Clark wasn't sure.

Clark pulled out his notepad and drew the DNA blueprint of the man from his memory as accurately and as detailed as he could with his pen. He's had practice with this sort of meticulous work before when he made the Kent farm memorial.

With a final sigh and a light squeeze of Bruce's shoulders, Clark folded up the piece of paper containing the drawing and handed it over to him.

"Take care of yourself." Clark whispered farewell, then he was gone.

Bruce didn't even bat an eye.

* * *

"…_the value of family is not something that cannot be quantified with words or figures. A Christmas present might be valuable in terms of money. But the value of family can only be quantified with love, love that is unspoken but omnipresent. As with all things that we hold dear, we can only gauge their real worth to us when we lose it. But what if when you lose your family? It is then you realise that family doesn't really have a value or a net worth; for things that are 'valuable' can be replaced."_

Clark finished his review of the Christmas play with that paragraph. When he was writing it his mind was in turmoil, after witnessing what he did that night in Gotham he couldn't possibly be insensitive to the review he was writing.

So he wrote with his heart instead of his mind. He poured out his real emotions to his review instead of the observations he made as a journalist. It just felt wrong to do otherwise. He proofread the review, edited it and sent it to Perry before going to sleep.

Clark woke up with a cold sweat, the dreams he had tonight were traumatic to say the least. He remembered it all, the time of his parents' death and Bruce parents' death all played out in vivid detail in front of him. Then it was the incident at the truck stop with Chloe, followed by the time when he stood up for Lana way back in middle school. Then it was the time he met Kara for the first time.

Something was eating away at him; one thing these dreams all had in common was that he was a part of it. Not just as a witness, but someone who was actively engaged.

Voices echoed out in his head,

"_What do you think makes you so unique? So capable? What do you think gives you the potential to achieve something greater than yourself?"_

"…_Clark, you should be the only one that gets to decide what you do with your gifts..."_

""_It's because you knew you could. You knew you couldn't just stand there and let it happen, right?"_

"_You have a higher calling to serve than customers calling for drinks."_

Realisation dawned on Clark like a curtain. He finally knew what the dreams and the voices meant. All the things he witnessed, all the things he took part in told him that he could impact those around him at a much greater scale than a human could. His powers, there was a reason they were there instead of just him simply being an alien. He knew it now, they were there because he was meant to use them for a purpose higher than his own fulfilment.

Clark knew what he wanted to be. When he stood up for Lana, when he stood up for Chloe, and when he protected and tried to comfort Bruce. He did it because he can, he did it because he knew it was the right thing to do. Now he fully understood what Kara was talking about in terms of purpose. He knew in his heart that this was the right thing to do and he was overcame with a feeling of epiphany and enlightenment.

Bruce's parents' death stood out to Clark. If he had been on the lookout he could've easily stopped it, he could've easily protected the Waynes and there would be one less tragedy in this world. He had the power to change what was. He could be a protector against the evils that the people around him suffer on a daily basis. He could use his powers to make sure the type of thing that happened to Bruce could be prevented directly or indirectly. He could be a symbol of hope.

"_When you have realised what it is you really want to be, and you know it's the right thing, we will have another talk. Rao watch over you, my son."_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:** __I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank each and every one of you who take the time to read this story._

* * *

Kal-El stepped off the transporter pad into his Antarctic home. He hadn't been here in ages and the past couple of months have been interesting to say the least. During the day, he worked as part-time journalist for the _Planet_ still covering trivial events such as shows and films or news not important enough to make a sub-sub-sub-headline. He didn't need to show his face in the office much because of how low-key the company was; most contact was by email or by Skype™. But at least he was making progress now. His latest assignment was a seven-paragraph piece on a rumoured 'guardian angel' frequenting Metropolis' low districts during the night.

The low murmurings abounding around the less prominent parts of Metropolis was that the 'guardian angel' would show up at muggings, robberies, fires, accidents and offer help to the people or put criminals in a position where the authorities could easily apprehend them.

He smiled to himself, when he did the online article he wrote on how there was no concrete evidence proving the existence of the so-called guardian angel but also added in the testaments of the people who he had helped. No one knew his face, he made sure to operate in the dark where cameras and eyes couldn't make out his full image or to make his appearances as brief as possible.

Some of the people he helped were thankful, some of them were awed, some of them were mistrusting, and some of them were downright afraid. Kal-El would show up out of nowhere, do what he needed to do and disappear without a trace. He was a phantom out of necessity, as the 'guardian angel' could dodge the questions and curiosity that Clark Kent could not.

For all intents and purposes Clark Kent is still a boy who disappeared from home and the circumstances as to why is not something he needed anybody to know. When he ventured even remotely close to Smallville to stop a gas station fire, he saw an old photo of his family's faces on a random milk carton and he panicked slightly. It meant people were looking for him.

The Kents had no known relatives, but there were family friends, the neighbouring farmers and then there was Lana. Clark knew that they must be worried out of their minds. But he had resolved never to go back to Smallville, there was no reason for him to other than to re-examine wounds that he'd bandaged already.

He concluded the existence of a guardian angel as speculative urban ghost media due to the lack of evidence. But the guardian angel was very real.

The words of gratitude the people had expressed when Clark listened to them out of sight. The smiles on the family he had saved from a car accident. The tears of the girl whose mother was miraculously saved from an apartment fall. They were all real and every time Clark saw them he was reminded of what he was doing this for.

Still, it wasn't what he totally wanted. He wanted a symbol of hope that humans could aspire to. If he came out to the public as a vigilante alien, he would receive a maelstrom of attention and backlash. Simply because he was different. Once upon a time attention was the thing he had craved, but the boy that wanted to be noticed is gone. Replaced by a man who wanted humans to protect those that can't protect themselves.

Clark wanted to infuse a sense of hope and goodness to his fellow man. He wanted to make sure that alley punks with guns wouldn't get chances to shoot fathers and mothers on a night out. He knew that a perfect world was unattainable but if he could get humans to see the light instead of the darkness then Krypton's demise and his parents' death would not be in vain.

It was still a dream to him, a project if you will. He just didn't know where to start, and there was only so much he could be from pulling cats out of trees and helping people cross roads in the shadows.

Kal-El activated the holograph projector to speak to Jor-El and Lara.

"Kal-El, greetings." spoke Jor-El.

"Father," replied Kal, "Do you remember what you said to me when I first spoke to you?"

"I remember all of it, Kal. Why?" Jor enquired.

"You said that when I finally chose who I wanted be, I should come and speak to you."

Jor's expression grew serious. "Do you know who you want to be, Kal-El?"

"Yes."

"And what is that?"

"These powers and abilities that I have," Clark started. "I know now that they are not for me, they are for those around me. I want to use them to be a force for good."

Jor-El's eyes softened with gratification, Clark continued, "I thought that I had these powers because I was different. I thought I could use them for my own fulfilment. Then I didn't know what to do at all but I know now that they could be used to achieve purposes higher than me."

Jor smiled, "And what purpose is that, Kal?"

"To do the right thing because I could. I want to become an example that humans could use so they themselves can strive for greatness. You said that you sent me away because you wanted me to live a life where I can choose who I want to be. I want to be a symbol of hope, not because I was meant to, but because I can choose to."

Jor and Lara's eyes exuded pride upon Clark's words. The child they had sent off in the spaceship had now embraced the challenge they had wanted him to achieve. "We had prayed that this day would come, my son." said Lara.

Kal-El beamed at the holographs of his parents and asked, "So, father, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"

Jor's eyes grew wide in recognition, Lara disappeared to leave the two alone.

"Kal-El, do you recall that Krypton's gravity was magnitudes stronger than Earth's?"

"Yeah?" Clark acknowledged. He learned that Krypton's pull was approaching that of a neutron star. "What about it?"

"Sol has given you your strength, your extra-sensory abilities and your invulnerability," Jor stated, he continued "and it would give you one last gift."

Kal raised an eyebrow, the Sun had been very good to him. "What do you mean, I have _another _power?"

"Yes, Kal. Your cells are extremely dense and soon they will have the power to manipulate their own gravity field."

Kal's jaw dropped, "What?!"

Jor gave an amused chuckle, "Yes Kal, your own negative gravity field," he answered. "You will be able to manipulate your mass as much as you can. Much like the fields around a black hole, but infinitely more complex."

Kal remembered Mr. Newton's Laws. "You can't surely be saying that I can fly?"

"I'm not saying that you can fly." Jor corrected him. "I am saying that you will be able to, with time and practice of course." he added snidely.

Clark shouldn't be that surprised, but he was. His other powers had more or less manifested themselves when he was young and he had time to get used to them. All his other powers revealed themselves by accident or because they were already there. How do you accidentally fly? It was second nature for him to shoot heat from his eyes or to run really fast. But now knowing he had the ability to soar into the heavens filled him with child-like glee.

"How fast can I go?" he asked excitedly.

"That depends, Kal. The question should be: how strong can you pull?" Jor remarked, Kal nodded in agreement, "And the answer to that question, Kal-El, is one you would have to find out yourself. Even I cannot calculate how powerful you will become when you peak. You just have to keep testing your limits."

"That's a lot of power for one man." Kal mused. _With great power comes great…_

"Yes, Kal-El, but you are not a mere man. You have the potential to be limitless. As with all your powers, they will grow stronger and stronger as you age." Jor informed him. "You must take care not to abuse them."

"I promise not to." Kal sincerely replied with unwavering dedication.

"I am glad." Jor smiled at him briefly and his face grew sombre. "My son, you will have the ability to do things that the humans of this Earth will see as mythical, from the land of fantasy. The impact of your existence will change the world. You must be careful with the image that you mould."

Kal-El processed Jor's words. How exactly will the world react when he finally reveals himself? Fear? Apprehension? Euphoria? Xenophobia? All of the above?

Jor spoke out to him, "Kal-El? What are you contemplating?"

There was only one human who knew who he really was; Lana. And there was the boy from Gotham who had much bigger worries than Clark. All the other people who knew who he was were dead.

The way Lana reacted was, in hind sight, quite calm and civil. But that was because she had known him as timid Clark Kent for years beforehand. The world will not have such reference to his inner character when he inevitably comes out. They will either see him as a stupidly naive alien with idealistic intentions or someone with an underlying agenda. He has a lot of work to do before they see him as just an example of who they could be if they tried.

"They're not gonna take very well to me when I come out." Kal remarked as Jor nodded at him in agreement.

"You are going to have to use the greatest gift life on this planet has given you."

"What? Fly?" he guessed.

"No, Kal. I assume you haven't yet realised what your greatest gift is yet."

"Well, if you're not gonna tell me-"

"No, I won't. This is another answer that you must seek on your own. I and your mother are only here for guidance."

Kal understood. "Okay, thanks by the way. You've been a great help." Kal replied sincerely.

"You're welcome, Kal-El." Jor finally replied as his projection turned itself off. Kal gave one last smile at his father as he disappeared.

"Hey Kal!" Kara called out as she arrived at the house.

"Kara."

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? It's my house too."

"Well, I haven't seen you in ages."

"Sorry Kara, I've actually been really busy lately."

"Oh yeah? At that website you're working at?"

"Yep, and some extracurricular stuff as well."

Kara didn't reply, but instead had a knowing look on her face. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Clark asked.

"I read all your articles Kal."

"You do?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? Your last one was very interesting." she commented.

"Interesting how? Care to elaborate?"

"Well, Kal, I find the rumoured existence of a random man appearing in the middle of the night helping people and catching criminals very interesting. Don't you?" she said with a teasing tone,

"It's all speculation Kara. I mean, there's no evidence and there's no proof-" He was stopped when he saw the piercing look in his cousin's eyes, "Will you stop looking at me like that?"

Kara tightened her jaw and intensified her gaze, Clark cracked and threw his hands up in defeat. "Okay Kara, it was me. The guy I was writing about was me." he admitted. "How did you know?"

"Kal, you're the only one in the planet except for me that can possibly be the one that was doing all those things. You live in Metropolis, this man was reported to be in Metropolis. It doesn't take a Kryptonian mind like mine to put 'two and two together' as they say here on Earth." she logically explained.

Clark chuckled, "It could be someone else, I mean, a normal man ca-"

"You're not normal Kal." Kara corrected him.

Instead of the sadness he once felt when confronted by the fact that he wasn't 'normal', Clark was actually accepting of it. "No I'm not." he smiled. "But I know that I'm not for a reason now."

Kara smiled warmly at his cousin, she was proud of him. "And it's a good reason." Clark added.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Clark started.

"Well, this past week I've been visiting Greece." she told him.

"Greece?" Clark asked with raised eyebrows and a nod. "How was it?"

The history of Greece fascinated Kara; the gods, the myths, the stories, everything. It was rich and provided a small sample size to what Earth had to offer as a whole. "Greece is amazing." she replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah?"

"The history is amazing, the art, the architecture, the entertainment. We had nothing of the sort in Krypton."

"Sounds cool." he nodded. "I might have to visit sometime."

"Why don't you come with me? I'm going again tomorrow."

"I can't Kara. I have to go back to Metropolis and you know…"

Kara sighed wistfully, "We haven't really spent that much time with each other and you're the only family I have here."

At that moment Clark felt guilty, she was right. Kara was his only family on Earth. Clark, of all people knew the value of family. "I could come for a day or two." he offered.

Kara's face brightened. "Excellent! I'll set up the portal for the two of us."

"Alright, but that may not be necessary in the future." Clark informed her.

"What do you mean?"

Clark explained to her Jor-El's revelation that Kryptonian could fly on Earth. Clark noticed that Kara had a blank expression all throughout the conversation and broke off to ask her, "Wait? You already knew didn't you?"

"Yes I did." Kara replied nonchalantly. "I did a lot of research in my free time."

Clark should've known Kara would've known, "Can you fly yet?" he asked her.

"No, my cells aren't as efficient as yours and it'll probably take me much longer to master my own gravity field." she admitted.

"Oh." Clark replied with raised eyebrows, finally he one-upped Kara on something! He had a smug grin on his face which Kara noticed.

"What's that smile for?"

"Nothing, just felt like smiling." he sheepishly answered. "So, anyway, when are we going?"

"We could go right now if you want."

"Okay, let's. Ladies first."

"What?" Kara retorted as she pressed some buttons.

"Just step into the portal Kara."

"Fine."

Clark followed Kara into the portal projector. When he got to the other side he arrived _over_ the Greek countryside. Over. The. Ground. His eyes widened in recognition of the falling nausea that instantly enveloped him.

"Aaaaaaahh!" he screamed in fear with his eyes closed. He was ten thousand metres over the Earth, falling and tumbling like a rock.

Kal-El fell through the clouds and the sky. He saw his life flash before him as the image of a splattered watermelon entered his mind. He was tossing and tumbling in the air still screaming at the top of his lungs.

He opened his eyes and saw the ground get closer to him. Still nervous, he realised that Kara had purposely teleported him over the Earth to either test his instincts or as some sort of prank. He closed his eyes again and tried to calm down and concentrate.

He focused on what his body was feeling at that instant. Falling towards the ground he felt heavy. He tensed his limbs and grit his teeth in concentration.

Suddenly it's as if he was stopped by an invisible cushion in the sky. Akin to the feeling one would get when initially riding an elevator downwards. He felt weightless.

He opened his eyes and looked downwards, the ground wasn't getting bigger, and he wasn't hitting any clouds. He was floating in mid-air.

He gasped in shock and span around. He relaxed and started dropping again, only time he wasn't tumbling around, he was diving toward the Earth like a falcon. He stretched out his arms and floated again. He was closer to the ground now and he could see Kara on a field looking up at him.

"Not funny!" he shouted down at her. She was beside herself in laughter. Clark fell the final thousand metres down to the ground and stopped just before he hit it.

"How was your trip?" she asked innocently.

"Seriously Kara, what the hell?!" he blurted then added dramatically, "I could've died!"

Kara scoffed at him. "You were fine Kal, and you wouldn't've gotten hurt anyway…" Kara began,

Clark looked incredulously at her, "That's not the point Kara! You don't just teleport people in the middle of the air!"

"Yes, I can." she countered wryly. "In fact I just did." Clark opened his mouth to argue back at Kara but she cut him off, "Look, Kal. You're fine aren't you?"

"Yeah?" he replied tentatively.

She grinned at him, "I was just 'throwing you in the deep end', as they say here on Earth."

Clark looked at her annoyed, "I don't think that saying applies when you leave me in the middle of the air Kara,"

"Well of course it does!" she responded, "So how was it?"

Clark began drolly, "Oh, terrifying, horrific, traumatising..."

"Seriously Kal?"

"How do you think?! I was falling!"

"No, you weren't." she asserted. "You were in a controlled descent."

"I didn't know what to do, and then I decided to do something then next thing you know I was just floating."

"So how did it feel?" Kara pressed.

Clark sighed. "Well, it felt great actually."

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"No!" he cried.

Kara just laughed at his reaction. "Oh suck it up little cousin! I knew you'd be able to float when you needed to. It was a 'leap of faith' as the humans say. Consider that as your first flying lesson."

"Since when did I ask you to be my flying instructor? And where the hell are you getting all these expressions?" he whined.

Kara held her chin held high and proclaimed defensively, "Kal-El, flying is one of your skills. And it's my responsibility as the older cousin of the last son of El to make sure his skills are sharp, polished and developed."

"Yes mom." Clark grumbled sarcastically as he shook his head with a hand rubbing his forehead.

* * *

The two cousins spent the next day posing as tourists taking in the scenery of Athens. Travelling incognito they visited the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the National Library and did things that normal tourists would do. Kara was completely fluent in Greek and she acted as a sort of tour guide.

They went out for some ice cream, took photos and generally enjoyed themselves. Clark admitted that he's had more fun being with Kara than he's had for a long while. And he genuinely felt happy that his cousin was enjoying herself on Earth.

The two cousins were checking a travel brochure and looking for the next place to visit. "How about we visit a club Kal?"

"What kind of club?"

"You know, a nightclub." she suggested.

Clark scoffed, "Hell no."

Kara pouted, "Why not?"

"Well, Kara; because one, I don't want to. And two, I don't want to."

"Come on! You might actually enjoy yourself, if you know what I mean." she persuaded suggestively.

"Do you even have ID?"

"I have super-speed." she murmured with a shrug.

"So you sneak in past the bouncers?"

"Maybe. Sometimes I don't even have to."

"Seriously?" Clark retorts.

"Yeah," Kara answered coyly. "I just flash a smile at them, touch their arm or something like that then they just let me in. I am old enough to be in a nightclub Kal." she mused.

Clark shook his head at her mischievousness, if he was Kara's father he'd put her in some sort of convent. "Kara, sorry but you're on your own with this one. If you want to go you can go." he said sternly.

"Fine." she grumbled. "Thank you for coming with me today by the way."

"My pleasure," he smiled then reminded her, "but I have to get back soon."

"What for? We just got here?"

"You said it yourself, I have new skills I need to practice and then I'm back to Metropolis for that thing I do now."

"Oh. Sure, I'll stay here for tonight then I'll go back to the house, there's something important I'm working on."

"Oh yeah, what is it?" he inquired.

"It's a secret." she stated with a twinkle in her blue eyes. Clark rolled his.

"All right, will you be okay here?"

"Of course, I'm thinking of visiting this club called Aeaea. It's on this cool little isle off the coast, you have to take a ferry to get there. The description here says it's, and I quote; _magical_." she informed him with a little too much enthusiasm in her voice.

Clark snorted, "I'll bet. You know you could describe every club on Earth with the word _magical._"

"Yeah but this one does sound very 'hip'." she replied, Clark groaned.

"When will I see you again?"

"I should be back before tomorrow morning, Antarctic time." said Kara.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing and when dawn finally came, Clark left for the Antarctic to practice his flying skills, leaving Kara to savour the Athens nightlife.

* * *

Circe filed her nails and checked her reflection in the mirror, tonight she would host another party in the club she owned. She smiled to herself indulgently, the _Aeaea _was one of the most popular clubs in the city. There was something about offshore nightclubs that made them so alluring and exotic. It was the illusion that being off the mainland symbolically granted you the freedom to screw your inhibitions for the night. The mortals that got off the pier and walked through the doors enjoyed the sinful debauchery so much that they were so predictable in their behaviour.

But Circe wasn't there just the owner of some island club. She used to be an Amazon, she lived in Paradise with her former so-called sisters but she was banished for eternity when she was caught practicing witchcraft, black magic and associating with the goddess Hecate.

On Themyscira versing oneself in dark magic was expressly forbidden, and praying to other gods other than the ones on Olympus was a grievous offence. She was to never set foot on Paradise again and she was condemned to forever walk the Earth among the lowly and dreary populace. She had originally wanted to usurp Hippolyta and take control of the Amazons using powerful mind-control magic but her power-crazed plans were derailed. The evil in her heart grew and now she just wanted to kill them all.

She started the nightclub as a front for her mind control experiments, the island was laced in her magic and she would entertain herself on the humans that got off the ferry under the pretence of a party.

Decades among humans fuelled her hate for them. They were so weak, so frail, so easy, so gullible she thought. If they had a modicum of strength she would've had her revenge on Hippolyta and the Amazons a long time ago. How dare they banish her?! They had no right! Circe's black and evil heart detested all the Amazons and everything they stood for; in her mind everything was their fault. It was their fault that she was banished and it was their fault that she had to surround herself with all these talking worms.

All this time by herself led her to find a perceived loophole in her punishment. Her physical self was forbidden on Themyscira, for as soon as she lays her feet on its fertile soil she would be sent straight to the Underworld. But there was nothing in the sentence that said her soul; her mystical being that she offered to Hecate wasn't allowed to grace the island with its presence. She has tried and tried to find a suitable vessel for her essence but humans were so weak that they withered and died whenever she transferred it from her original body. The terms of her punishment did not foresee the existence of a female body on Man's World strong enough to carry her blackened soul other than her own, and so she was effectively banished.

But she wouldn't give up, she was immortal and she had plenty of time to find a body suitable for her needs. It might take millennia but she would exact revenge on Hippolyta and her tribe using a body that wasn't hers. She has spent her years on the outside perfecting her witchcraft and she has grown into a powerful sorceress. So far the detail that no human was strong enough to contain her essence was true; Circe had enough literal skeletons in the closet to attest to that. No-one found out of course, she had free control of any investigator's mind.

* * *

Kara was thoroughly enjoying herself, the music, the ambience and the atmosphere of the club was better than advertised. But she had to leave soon, Kal would be waiting for her back at the Antarctic. She was on the dance floor losing herself among the crowd of partygoers when two very burly men approached her.

"Hey babe, wanna dance?" one of the men probed with a slap to her behind.

Kara turned round and looked him in the eye, "Go away." she warned.

"Aww don't be like that, you want a drink?"

"I want you to go away." Kara said.

"I like this one, she's cute." the other guy remarked, Kara shot a glare at him but the man didn't flinch.

"You think?"

"Yeah, wonder what she looks like naked."

"By the end of tonight, we won't have to wonder." he said with a sinister smile as he grabbed Kara forcefully.

Kara pushed him away with an open palm, he grabbed her hand on his chest but Kara swung him around and tossed him all the way to the other side of the dance floor. The other guy was taken aback at Kara's strength and tried to put his arm around her, Kara twisted his arm and flipped him in mid-air before dropping him on the floor too. The other partygoers were so inebriated with whatever they were taking and didn't acknowledge what was happening.

Circe observed the entire exchange take place from a balcony. Those two men were her employees (slaves) and she saw this young, beautiful woman toss them around like throw pillows. She was intrigued. Maybe this human was different.

Circe approached Kara from behind,

"Hi! My name is Circe!" she offered a hand which Kara shook.

"Like the Greek goddess." observed Kara. Circe laughed. "Yes, like her. I saw what happened. I'm very sorry for these two, I'll have them thrown out in no time. Sometimes they drink more than they should. Are you hurt?"

"Oh that's okay, I'm quite alright. It's them that you should be checking upon." Kara said to her, she noticed that this woman had almost unnatural purple eyes. She quickly put them down as contact lenses people wore for fashion.

"So how are you liking the club so far?" she asked as she flashed a dazzling smile at Kara.

"It's _magical."_

Circe's face beamed at her description, "Glad to hear it, what brings you here?"

"I was just looking around and this place seem to be the most alluring to me."

"Do you go to places like these often?"

"All the time."

"Well well well, you're a very interesting young woman aren't you? Who taught you all those kung-fu karate moves?"

"My, uh, my father." Kara said reluctantly. This woman seemed very eager in her questions.

"He must be a very strong man to raise his daughter to be able to defend herself." Circe remarked.

"He was."

She continued with her questions, "Where are you from? Australia? France? Are you a tourist?"

"I'm visiting from England." Kara blankly stated.

"Ahh! England! I should've known by your accent, we have a lot of English holidaymakers visit here. Most of them are obnoxious but I could tell that you're an exception."

"I could speak Greek if it's more comfortable for you." Kara offered.

"Hmm, a woman of many talents," Circe mused enchantingly, "why don't you come join me for a drink in the VIP section? On the house."

Kara brushed her off, "No thank you. I was just leaving anyway."

"What? It's too early for you to leave!" Circe whined.

"I don't want to be a cause of expense for you."

"Nonsense dear! I own this club, everything is free for people I consider my friends!"

"Thank you for the sentiment, Madame Circe. But I really have to get going. And I don't want to impose."

Circe playfully waved the address off, "Oh stop it with the Madame. I'm not an old minx." Kara looked at her bemused but Circe disregarded it, "My dear, what is your name?"

"Kara." she answered.

"Such a beautiful name. Well, Kara, I know for a fact that every single person who walks through my doors is looking for a good time, and that is exactly what I'm offering you." she temptingly said to her. By now a normal human would have fallen to Circe's charms.

"It's really not a good time."

"You come to my club and suddenly it's not a good time?"

"No that's not what I meant-" Kara hastily tried to recover not wanting to offend the owner of Aeaea.

"Listen to me Kara, this club is the most popular in Athens. And not a lot of people get to come in here, much less spend time in the company of yours truly. Are you willing to pass that up?"

"Surely you have other guests to entertain other than me."

"But my dear Kara, any guest here is my guest to entertain as I see fit." Circe countered.

"I'm really flattered that you want to pay attention to me Circe, but I must refuse."

"Are you sure? I'll say it again; a lot of people like you would give a lot to be associated with me."

"I'm sure. Thank you again."

"Have it your way." Circe said. Kara looked at her graciously then turned around to leave, instantly the smile on Circe's face became sinister as she watched Kara move through the crowd.

This slender young girl was really whetting Circe's appetite, she hasn't displayed any of the mental nor physical weakness mortal females do and Circe was convinced she was worth the effort of having to go through the whole procedure of essence transfer again.

There was something about Circe that unsettled Kara. Was it her smile? Her eyes? Was it her forward hospitality? The way she fired off question after question? Kara couldn't place her finger on it but in her mind Circe was a character best avoided. It could just be her imagination though. Circe hadn't shown any behaviour indicating that she was anything other than well meaning.

Kara turned her head for a final glance of the dance floor. She saw her and she was looking intently at her with a curve in her lips. Kara's heart skipped a beat as she increased her pace for the door.

Kara was out of the club and started walking towards the ferry. She could dash out of the city away from any prying eyes when she got back to the mainland. She took one last look at the club. When she turned her head back around she instantly froze, in front of her was Circe herself. Her purple eyes and hair were magnified by the chilling smile she had on her lips. The image Kara saw in her eyes was pure malice.

Kara stammered, "M-Madame Circe? What are you doing here?"

"Shhh," Circe said with a finger to Kara's lips, Kara all of a sudden found it very difficult to move.

"What are you doing to me?"

"All will be clear, my dear. It's a shame really, I could tell that you had a lot of potential."

"What do you mean it's a shame?"

Circe laughed a menacing laugh, "Oh, just that you're going to have to die. Well, YOU will die, but your wonderful body won't."

Kara reacted, she hit Circe with a burst of heat vision which hit her in her side.

The smile disappeared from Circe's lips as she conjured a shield to barely deflect the heat in time before it burnt through her. "What are you?!"

Kara didn't answer, instead she just continued to shoot heat at Circe but felt herself weaken and she dropped to her knees.

"What have you done to me?!" Kara demanded. She pulled out her phone and pressed the distress signal in the hope that Kal might hear it.

"Don't bother calling the police. This is just the start." Circe chanted a spell with a wave of her hands and the two disappeared into thin air.

* * *

Kal-El crashed into mountain after ice mountain trying to catch some air under his own power. He was running and long jumping in the hopes that his flight will kick in. He deducted it as instinctual; like walking instead of his heat vision which he could just turn on or off with conscious effort. He was like a baby learning to string together the first steps after the initial stumble.

He hasn't been making much progress though, his last jump was about a half-thousand metres but it still ended up with him in a frozen faceplant. His clothes were completely ruined and tattered and he might've as well been naked.

He asked himself after every fall how flying was so difficult. It wasn't the animal kingdom where a mother bird would guide him and watch over him as he first spread his wings. He knew that he could manipulate his own gravitational field; he just didn't know how. There was nothing in the Codex that could offer some hint on how to fly since it was unprecedented for a Kryptonian to do so. He had achieved some sort of flight when Kara had so graciously dropped him in the middle of the air; but that was when adrenaline, necessity and the fear of God were pumping in his veins. Those were the conditions he was trying to replicate by launching himself into the air.

He got up from the last crater he bored into the tundra. He groaned in frustration. He was barely getting any further and all the distance he was covering was just due to his jump.

He was preparing for another long jump when a piercing screech perforated his ears. He never forgot what that sound meant to him; that ultrasonic, high frequency whistle that he last heard on the night of the dance.

Kal was the feeling the helplessness he was trying to emulate by launching himself in the air, only now it felt too real. His heart was pumping and the adrenaline was scrambling all over his anatomy again. That was the Kryptonian distress call that he failed to answer the last time it rang; and Hell be damned before he failed to heed it the second time. Kara! She was in trouble and it filled Kal with dread that his cousin was in danger. He was afraid; afraid that something awful might happen to her and afraid of what it was that endangered her in the first place. He wasn't thinking too rationally as his instincts took over.

Kal-El closed his eyes as he dropped to his knees and put his fists on the ground, much like a sprinter would on the blocks. He grit his teeth and concentrated all of his being into something he didn't know how to do. The Sun bathed its nurturing rays all over his exposed, naked body.

Pieces of dirt began orbiting around his knuckled, then his arms, soon large chunks of rock and ice were freely swirling around him as if he was the Sun and they were the planets.

Kal-El opened his eyes, he saw the effect of his own field on his own surroundings. Then he willed himself to go upwards.

And upwards he went. He accelerated slowly at first, like the space rocket that carried him to Earth. But gradually his rate of climb increased until his hair was billowing under his own wind.

The Sun was shining bright above and the ground was moving fast beneath him.

His ears were still hearing the signal, he was flying as hard as he can to where he perceived the source was before he heard silence as the signal cut out. He felt his heart stop with terror and he dropped from the sky.

* * *

Circe took a paralysed Kara to a magically shielded lair under the club. Kara was laid out on a raised altar which was surrounded by candles in a pentagram arrangement. Circe was above her, chanting the incantation that would transfer her essence into Kara's body. When it was done she would have free reign to visit Themyscira and she would make them all pay. She was chanting the final lines of her spell in ancient Greek.

"…_and by the power granted to me by your grace, Hecate! Bind this faithful servant's soul to this willing body and your will be done!"_

A powerful bolt of magic crawled from Circe's eyes and extremities and concentrated itself on Kara. Both Kara and Circe were screaming as the final part of the ritual took course. Kara felt as she had been stabbed all over and Circe felt her essence pour out into Kara.

A bout of screaming from both Kara and Circe. A sudden flash of blinding white light and the flow of magic stopped and Circe dropped to the floor.

* * *

After his failed maiden flight Kal-El decided to dash back on foot to the settlement, change into new clothes and instead use the portal to transport himself to where Kara said she would be last.

Typing in the coordinates, he transported himself to above Athens. After falling for a short distance he balanced himself under the night sky. He was slowly becoming a natural with his ability of flight. He hovered high above the city and tried to hone his finely tuned ears for Kara's heartbeat. He heard nothing, which confused him. In his mind there was only one reason why he couldn't hear his cousin's heartbeat and he feared the worst. He remembered that Kara wanted to go to a specific offshore nightclub and flew over the coast looking for something that matched the description.

He turned his eyes to where he could hear music. Finally he saw something; a small island with a ferry and an open-air mansion. He flew over to hover above it. He scanned the entire island with his vision but his search was fruitless.

He couldn't see a trace of her…no…wait! Near the pier! The surroundings were charred in random places in patterns of two round, black circles next to each other. His mind clicked; Kara put up a fight.

Kal checked over the island again, looking for anything that might give a hint. There was something about the whole island that felt decidedly…off kilter to him. It was like being tipsy simply from breathing the air around him.

He was scanning the ground when he spotted something unusual; where his vision penetrated the island underneath him completely one spot under the mansion seemed to block out his senses. He zoomed in and out, this black spot seemed to be a secret room of some sort.

He covertly entered the club and followed the hallways and doors which he saw that led to the secret room, whenever security appeared he would use super speed to bypass them and soon enough he was right outside the blacked out room.

* * *

Purple eyes opened in the darkness.

Circe looked at her feet, then she let out a squeal of delight. It wasn't her own feet she was looking at, nor her own hands. The transfer was successful for the first time. Her old body was slumped unceremoniously at the floor and her new one was sitting down on the altar top.

She conjured a mirror and looked at her reflection, her hair was a flowing golden waterfall on her shoulders and her face was that of the poor girl she used.

She took a walk around the room and used a brief moment to get used to her new body. A perverse pleasure overcame her as she put into motion the next part of her plan.

Using another spell, Circe opened a direct magical portal to Themyscira. She smiled to herself in perverse satisfaction, this was a moment she had been so dreaming of for decades. If her soul in its original body were to touch that portal, she would go straight to Tartarus. But she had broken out her own jail cell by using Kara's body as the rock hammer.

She was about to step into the portal when the far wall exploded and a tall young man burst forth out of the dust, his eyes were glowing red.

"Kara!"

Circe frowned. This was no time for distractions, Circe's magical portal might get detected on Themyscira before she came out of it.

Kal-El saw Kara about to step into this mystical looking door in the middle of the room. Kara took one glance at him and entered the door. Without thinking, he dashed into the door and followed her into the portal a mere blink before it closed.

When Kal entered the portal he felt his body parts seem to burn. It wasn't the quick 'in-n-out' portals Kara had devised for transport to the Antarctic from any point on Earth or vice-versa. This portal felt different, it was as if he was trying to pass through a painful firewall. He spent what he thought was a minute falling through the wormhole and he came out of the tunnel in a blinding light.

* * *

Princess Diana was out in the sky enjoying an afternoon fly-around of the island when she saw lightning in the distant coast. Immediately she noticed it as suspect, there were no clouds in the sky and random bursts of lightning on Themyscira could only mean that someone of high power decided to visit. She turned her body and flew off towards the direction of the lightning.

When Kal finally oriented himself to his surroundings he was even more confused than he was. He felt as if he was in a travel brochure. He was standing on golden sands and clear blue oceans stretched out in the horizon. To his back was heavy vegetation and the air was so clean. He looked around his feet and he saw that the sand he was standing on was charred and the rims of the crater were crystalline glass.

Screaming pierced his ears and he quickly scurried around to find Kara on her knees screaming with her hands over her ears and her eyes screaming out in full red fury. Circe was feeling the full effect of Kryptonian super-senses, something she had never in a million years expected when she took over Kara's body. In her magical room the sounds of the world were muffled but now out here in the open everything going on in the island was amplified in her ears.

Kal went over and leant next to Kara in a hurry, "Kara! Are you alright-"

The rest of his sentence stopped and his voice choked as the woman he though was his cousin looked over at him. Her eyes weren't the cerulean blue, they were a deep purple.

"K-Kara?" Clark stammered in shock.

Circe growled at Clark and shot a magical energy ball at him which he barely dodged.

"Kara!" Kal cried. His call went unnoticed as Circe continued to fire ball after ball of white-hot energy at him, some of which hit the jungle and burned straight through unimpeded.

Realising that Kara might not be herself, Kal tried to get a grip by encasing Kara in a block of ice immobilising her for a second. He then crashed through the ice block and put Kara in a hold, "Kara! What's happening to you?! It's me!"

Circe electrified her skin which sent Kal reeling to the sandy floor, she then tried to place Kal under a spell but found that she couldn't will herself to complete it as something was thought blocking her. She growled in anger and resolved to unleash even more offensive energy magic against Kara's cousin. Kal retaliated with a weaving charge, he connected with a punch against Circe's stomach and followed it up with a kick. He was thankful for the Kryptonian martial arts skills Kara taught her even though this was the last situation he ever wanted to use them in.

When Diana got to the beach, the sounds of battle assailed her warrior senses. She looked over at the scene between her and saw a black-haired man and a blonde woman engaged in close battle.

What in Hera's name is a man doing on Themyscira?! Men; she was brought up to believe that they were only good for evil and it just so happens the penalty for a man trespassing on the island was death.

Her upbringing and training guided her thinking and her actions. The first and only deduction she reasoned out of the situation was that one of her sisters was under attack by an agent of Ares sent by him to cause mischief on the island. The drums of battle pounded in her chest. She had been trained as an Amazon Princess to serve, and if need be, protect her fellow sisters.

"Sister! Your second is here!"

Diana flew into action and burst into the fight with a hard tackle to the man's waist. They both went tumbling into the ground some distance from Circe. Diana got up first and Kal rolled upright to his feet instantaneously after.

Diana pulled her sword from its scabbard as she looked into her opponent's eyes. She was trying to track his intentions by the movement of his pupils. But she was surprised when the cerulean blue started heating up into a fiery red like the eyes of a dog from Ares' kennels.

* * *

Kal-El looked at the raven-haired woman in front of him. She was wearing what looked like a torn up white summer dress, hear head was adorned with a tiara and she was wearing silver bracelets. Then he looked up into her eyes, they were sapphire glazed in fury. His heat vision started to pulse.

Diana attacked first, she swung her sword with unerring accuracy and speed, but the man seemed to move faster than thought itself as he avoided what should have been hits to the limbs. _An agent blessed by Ares and Hermes?_

Circe gathered her senses and watched the two circle each like gladiators on the sand. As much as she hated this man for causing her trouble, she hated Amazons even more and this one reminded her of Queen Hippolyta. With all of her magically charged strength she shot a concentrated bolt of energy at the Amazon with intent to seriously damage her.

The bolt was coming from slightly behind Diana. She would've heard it, but it was faster than sound.

Kal saw the speeding bolt in his peripheral, it was headed for the woman in front of him. If that bolt could hurt him, what would it do to her? He did the only thing Clark Jerome Kent would do and he supersped to intercept the bolt with his own body.


	12. Chapter 12

The bolt hit him square on the upper chest. Kal-El fell to his knees and fell over and he screamed out into the air until he collapsed from the pain.

Circe, in Kara's body watched Kal-El take all of the punishment she was able to give and he was unbelievably still there. That bolt took most if not all of her energy and she felt completely drained. Circe was shocked; a mortal much less an Amazon should've evaporated at first contact with that shot.

"Finish him sister!" Circe shouted at Diana. She was well aware of the Amazons' hatred of men, and she could take advantage of it and have this man killed once and for all for being a thorn in her side.

Diana was totally dumbfounded at what she saw; she was caught off guard to the extent that she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her mind.

Diana heard Circe's words, she walked over to where Kal-El was lying and raised her sword in preparation for the killing blow to his heart. Her hand tightly gripped the hilt of the sword, but found that she couldn't bring herself to thrust it into the man's chest.

Her mother, her sisters know men are the enemy. But at that moment, she knew deep inside the man in front of her was not. The bolt that had hit the man was meant to hit her, Diana was convinced that if it was meant for him instead he would've avoided it. He had shielded her at the expense of his own self for reasons inexplicable to her. In her short life, she has known and was taught that men are evil, dangerous and self-serving. The Amazons' history at the hands of Heracles and her own experience with the god of War has shown her what they can be.

But as Diana stared at Kal-El on the sand, she felt sorry for him. Pity was an emotion she was not allowed to show as a warrior but right now the man she was fighting was incapacitated. Against her pride, she lowered her sword.

Circe watched Diana hesitate before finally failing to deliver the killing blow. She huffed to herself in frustration; just another reason to hate them she thought. But Circe knew that she was in no condition to continue the fight, she was thoroughly tired out and her new found senses were constantly adding to her weariness. It was time for her to beat a strategic retreat; she has waited decades for the chance to strike out at the Amazons and she could wait a little more. With the last of her magic reserves, she performed a spell and disappeared into the thick, magical Amazonian jungle where she could recuperate for a few days and begin planning her next move.

"Sister, show yourself!" Diana shouted futilely around the beach as she looked over at where the bolt came from, there was no one there but her and him. Diana was torn; the disappearance of the woman was most puzzling and her pragmatic self wanted to go, track her down and ask her questions. But at the same time, her conscience was telling her that she just can't leave this man alone here to die. Amazons were nothing if they weren't honourable.

She knelt next to him on the sand and examined his body, she dipped her ear next to his mouth and heard that he was still breathing, but only just. Pressing a finger to his neck, she counted his pulse. This man was on death's door and Diana was overcame by a degree of helplessness she had never felt before. She didn't know who this man, this stranger was, but he must've been capable of great ardour to do what he did.

Diana breathed and closed her eyes; she resolved that if he took all this pain for her then she was obligated to at least try everything she could before the plains of Tartarus welcomed him. _Tartarus? No, the fields of Elysium _she corrected herself. Elysium was where happy, kind souls rested in the afterlife and if a man was going to enter there she knew he would be one of them. Now it was up to her to make sure his passing would be delayed enough for her to at least thank him.

Diana carefully, oh so carefully picked him up and carried him in her arms, making sure to keep him upright as she lifted herself off to the Healing Isle where she hoped Epione would find a way to treat him.

* * *

"Epione! Sister? Are you here?"

Epione looked up from the desk she was mixing a few ointments on, "Princess Diana? Is that you?" Diana came in through the open air balcony and touched down on the smooth marble floor with a heavily injured Kal-El in her arms. Epione backpedalled away from the sight of her Princess carrying a man to Healing Isle, "Princess…?" she started to ask but found that she was too surprised to continue.

"This man has been injured in battle." Diana stated curtly. Epione didn't doubt her; for as she looked him over she likened the man's chest and lower face to burnt tar. "I'll…I'll go find the shovel." Epione replied, Diana's eyes narrowed. "No, Epione, you're staying here. I need you to treat him."

Epione looked at her even more nonplussed and she reminded Diana, "Princess, he is a man."

"I know that!" Diana cried. "He's dying and you're the chief healer; he needs medical treatment and I need you to help him." she added desperately as she once again listened to his fading breath. Epione scornfully shook her head, "Princess; I cannot and will not use my skills to treat a man."

"Why?"

"Because he's better off dead." Epione said chillingly. Diana gasped, how can her sisters that loved and nourished her and one another be so capable of apathy?

"How can you call yourself a healer if you can say that to someone that so obviously needs healing?"

Epione countered in a pragmatic tone, "This is different Princess. He is a man and I know that if I somewhat help him back it will only be so that he can continue his barbarism."

"He won't, you can be sure of that." replied Diana confidently.

"What make you so certain that he won't unleash evil on us when-if he wakes?"

"Because this man was injured like this when he moved to shield me. If he hadn't done so it would most likely be me dying like this."

Epione regarded Diana with a look of surprise and uncertainty. Was it true? Diana never lied and if this man had actually sacrificed himself to save the Princess then that definitely changes things.

Diana's face grew sincerely tender and her eyes flashed anguish as she implored, "Epione, you are the greatest healer Themyscira has ever produced. Please, I'm _begging _you."

Epione's resolve wilted at Diana's plea and she yielded with a sigh, "For you, sister, I'll do it for you."

"Thank you." Diana whispered in gratitude. "Where do I place him?"

"This way," Epione gestured for Diana to follow into a separate room where the purple ray treatment area was located. "He looks pale and we are going to need the power of the purple ray. There were some ointments I was working on and I believe they could help soothe his pain. Lay him down here."

Diana carefully placed Kal-El down on one of the beds as Epione went to retrieve the ointments. When Epione returned she administered the ointments to him and directed the purple ray to his chest. Diana silently observed Epione as she worked before Epione finally spoke, "Princess if I may ask, where did you find this man?"

Diana told her of how she was just flying around and out of nowhere she saw him and this woman fighting on the beach.

"Do you know who the woman was?"

"No, I don't. I've never seen her on the island before. I looked for her but she disappeared after he took that hit. She seemed to just vanish."

"Oh." replied Epione. She found it peculiar that the other woman would disappear like that. But a sense of ominous déjà vu came to her as she remembered long ago the time when one of the Amazons rebelled against them. _Circe, _the healer recalled. Circe used the power of dark magic to attack her own sisters when they uncovered her plans and she remembered treating burn wounds similar to the man's but much smaller in nature. Circe was still relatively weak, she was stopped and as punishment was banished from the island.

Epione shook herself out of her thoughts, "Princess, does the Queen know that a man is in our midst?"

"No," Diana answered, "I came straight here afterwards. I'll go inform my mother of the situation as soon as I can."

"Of course, you might as well inform her now. I don't need any further assistance and I'll send for help if I need any. I suspect he won't show consciousness for a few days." said Epione as she placed more of the ointment on Kal-El's chest. She estimated it will be a few days at least before this man wakes.

"I'll leave you to it then." Diana turned to leave but not before she added, "Thank you again for this, Epione." Epione nodded at her and continued with her work.

* * *

Queen Hippolyta put her cup of tea down on its saucer as Diana finished telling the day's events to her. "Is that all that's happened?" she asked Diana abruptly. Diana noted that her mother's expression was unreadable all throughout when she explaining how she carried him to the Healing Isle, but she did see a tiny flash of disbelief when she told of how the man got himself injured.

"Yes mother, that's all."

"I see." Said Hippolyta as she furrowed her brow in concentration. Being the figure of authority that she was, she promptly classified both Circe in Kara's body and Kal-El as threats to her Amazons and she was already figuring out ways to deal with them. "Did Epione give any indication as to when the man might wake?"

"She said it will take a long time, a few days, maybe more." said Diana.

"Hmm…when he does wake, we will try him for trespassing on our island and then we will begin the search for this mysterious woman. I will alert the Royal Guard."

Diana's face contorted in anger, she knew that a trial of such nature will only be a formality and when the time came for a verdict the sentence was but predetermined. "Mother! You can't!"

"Can't what?" Hippolyta reacted.

Diana stammered at her own outburst, "I mean, you can't just-"

"What can't I do, Princess?"

Diana answered meekly, "You can't kill him."

Hippolyta huffed, "The law is the law, daughter. And _if_ the court finds him guilty we will carry out the appropriate punishment."

"Mother, he _is_ already guilty. The trial will just be for show!" Diana shot back. She can't believe that her mother can be so cold.

"Then so be it." Hippolyta answered calmly, "The Amazon way of life will not tolerate men breaking our laws. We've already suffered so much. You would do well to remember that."

"He deserves better than a death sentence."

"And who are you to decide what he deserves?"

"He was injured protecting me from that woman." said Diana.

"Did you need his protection?"

Diana was stumped, did she? "I-I don't know."

"What kind of man fights someone then move to protect them?"

"Someone obviously not like Heracles."

"Humph, he was most likely trying to gain your trust only to break it when you let your guard down." she scoffed.

Diana frowned, "By getting himself almost killed?"

"_Almost_ is the key word Diana. If he was truly an honourable man he would've wanted to die on that beach."

"It could've been me in his place." Diana pointed out, "I think for that alone he deserves some leniency."

"Ah, mercy." Hippolyta dispelled the notion as she challenged Diana with the stern look of a rightful Queen. "You want us to show this man mercy, Princess Diana? I ask you this; did Heracles show us mercy when he subjugated us?"

"The Gods of Olympus did." Diana countered sharply.

"But this man is not a god." Hippolyta argued with just as much savvy. "He might be powerful, seeing as he was able to breach the barrier that protects us and fight you. That alone gives us cause to suspect him. Men are dangerous enough, but give them power and their innate instinct to conquer just drives all their actions. You know that, and this man will be no different from all the others. This discussion is over, are we clear on that, _Princess_?"

Diana didn't miss the extra emphasis on her title, it left no room for argument. She looked down, "Yes mother."

"Good, and since you were the one to bring him to the Healing Isle, it is your responsibility to watch over until he wakes. You will be the one to make sure he doesn't harm any of us."

"As you wish." Diana nodded as she left the Queen's chambers. She let out a sigh of irate exasperation as she reached her quarters. She knew that it didn't matter if the man recovered from his injuries; his fate was already sealed. She knew it was not fair for him to simply die. The law was the law, as her mother said, but those laws were only placed as a result of what Heracles did. Her sisters taught her that men were evil and the Amazonian law was to protect the nation from such men, but when she applied those laws to him, they seemed woefully archaic. But was her mother right? Did she need protecting or was it all a ploy?

Diana tossed and turned in her bed as she restlessly slept. Hera, when she fell asleep she was regretfully hoping that the man actually turned out to be like the men her mother portrayed him as. At least that way her conscience would be clean when her sisters finally execute him.

* * *

Epione rose at the crack of dawn, it has been millennia since she has treated anyone of the male gender and she was anxious to see if he had shown improvement in his condition. She poured herself some tea and made her way to the purple ray area of the infirmary to check up on him.

Her mug fell to the floor in a loud crash.

When Epione left him the day before, he was a mangled and burnt piece of flesh. But to her astonishment, the person lying before her now resembled a statue. He was a fine young man with a strong jaw, a shapely, muscular torso and a youthfully handsome face. The magical combination of the Healing Isle, the overnight exposure to the magic-based Purple Ray and the exotic herb ointments administered to her by the healer in addition to his own Kryptonian regenerative healing factor meant that Kal-El's burn wounds had all but visibly disappeared overnight.

"By the light of Apollo…" Epione uttered in absolute wonder. The healer had regarded Kal-El's admittedly attractive physical appearance but it was his ability to heal quickly that fascinated the doctor in her.

Diana came in to start her watch over Kal-El later in the morning. "Epione? It's Diana." she called out when she touched down on the cold floor.

"In here Princess." Epione answered from behind a doorway, Diana followed her voice and entered the separate room where the man was. "Good morning sister, I came here to-"

Diana was stopped cold when she saw Kal-El on the bed. Gone was the near-dead carcass she carried yesterday but in its place lied a slightly pale young man in repose.

Diana began, "What in Athena's name…?"

Epione joined, "My reaction was the same Princess. It seems there is a lot more to this man than meets the eye."

"How? What happened when I was gone? What did you to him?" she quickly asked, Epione shrugged her shoulders in uncertainty and Diana smiled at her. "You truly are the greatest healer Themyscira has produced."

Epione brushed the compliment off, "I did nothing special. Just the standard purple ray and healing ointments I would've used on anyone else. The rest of his recovery was most likely up to him. I have turned the purple ray off now as it looks like he doesn't require it anymore."

Diana looked at Kal-El on the bed. She reasoned that he must have the ability to heal very fast by his own accord; her body had the same gift. She remembered how he seemed to be able to move faster than a speeding arrow and how he emitted red light from his eyes. Her first theory was that he was blessed by some secret pact between Hermes and Ares, but now it seemed he was blessed by Demeter too. The chances of those three gods somehow conspiring together to bestow abilities on one man was next to nothing but Diana knew that her own creation was a result of such action by a conglomerate of Olympian gods. And it seemed even more unbelievable to her that a male creation of the gods was capable of absolute selflessness. Was this man like her? A caring creation of composite gods? She found her heart leaping at the prospect of finding someone finally similar to her.

"He could be an Olympian." she suggested to Epione.

"Could be," Epione said, "but I do not know of any Olympian that would show himself on Themyscira without first alerting us of his presence. The Gods are proud, Princess, and they would blatantly show themselves to us if they chose to set foot on the island. Furthermore, they are ruled by the law of balance; it would be remiss of an Olympian to just show up on Themyscira without a significant reason to do so."

There was credence to the healer's words. Unless there was a new Olympian decree that the Amazons had not been privy to; there was not much reason for an Olympian to gallivant around Themyscira and if there was a need for Olympians to show themselves it would be done with fanfare. Diana bit a fingernail in ambiguity as she pondered Epione's speculation of the man's parentage.

She was inwardly hoping in her heart that he would actually turn out to be an Olympian for two reasons; because she had longed to find someone like her and so that the Amazons wouldn't be able to capitally punish him when he woke. The Amazons would think twice about angering the gods they worshipped.

"So Princess, what brought you here so early?" Epione asked.

"I was told by my mother that he was my responsibility to guard until he regained consciousness." It was part of the reason why she came, she was also sincerely worried about him and wanted to see how he was recovering.

"Ah, in good time as well. My bearings are completely off in regards to his recovery time but I suspect that he will wake shortly. I must admit that his physiology is very interesting. His colour has markedly improved since this morning, it was almost as if the light of day too aids him."

"Maybe he's blessed by Apollo too…" thought Diana out loud.

"I'm sorry what?" Epione tried to clarify since she was preoccupied with her own thoughts. "Nothing." Diana replied curtly. "I'm here to watch over him as he makes his recovery."

"And when he wakes?"

Diana said grimly, "_He_ will be tried for trespassing on Themyscira."

Epione needed no further explanation, she knew what that meant. "Oh."

"Yes," Diana replied with a sigh, "but I don't want you to think that your effort was for naught Epione. You did what any healer would do."

"I know, but it seems to be fruitless now."

When Diana picked him up from the beach and carried him to the Healing Isle, she wasn't thinking ahead about the prospects of his execution. "It's cruel for us to heal him only to summarily execute him when he wakes, isn't it?" Diana said with a slight tone of sympathy as both women looked pensively at Kal-El. They were both feeling the humanly compassion and pity one would feel when observing someone unaware that they were condemned.

"It is what it is." Epione offered softly as she went on to say, "The laws may be cruel but they are there to protect our way of life. Sometimes hard decisions must be made."

Diana looked at Epione with gratification, it seemed that the healer's demeanour towards the man on the bed had softened from her formerly hardline stance.

"I'll be staying here for a while. Do you have any chores that I can help with?" Diana offered.

"Nothing I can't do myself, Princess. Can I leave you here? I have some matters to attend to."

"Of course. I'll call when I need help."

Epione left to tend to her duties leaving Diana alone with Kal-El. She tried not to but she found herself staring at him as he lay on the bed. Before him, the only man she has ever met in her life was Ares; and with Ares the description that all men are evil creatures bent on domination was true. With intent to compare, Diana studied the strong chiselled lines of Kal-El's face; they showed none of the anger and aggression that Ares' detestable mug did. Instead he looked rather calm and peaceful as he slept, and the way his long jet-black hair fell over his forehead gave his overall image a carefree sort of quality.

Diana wondered if his character was like that in earnest. She found her gaze drawing downwards, slightly intrigued by the slow rise and fall of his contoured chest. She has never seen a man like this before, the images in her head whenever she thought about men before involved blood, gore and violence. But as she watched him sleep, he seemed so peaceful, so vulnerable that it made him so un-manlike. He looked so innocent that it made her feel unbearably guilty that he might not have that long to live.

Diana stayed close to him for the rest of the day, occasionally leaving to help Epione or to eat. He didn't wake which gave relief to Diana. She found herself hoping that if he stayed unconscious for long enough one of the gods might come down from Olympus to retrieve him before he could be prosecuted. Despite everything, she didn't want him to die. When the night came, Diana offered to watch him and let Epione sleep. Settling on a chair close to Kal-El's bed, she kept a watchful eye on him but his condition still didn't change. Boredom and weariness forced her to get up and try to do something but in the middle of the night there was nothing to do. Eventually, she sat back down on the chair. She sat for tedious hours with her sword at her side until drowsiness forced her to close her eyes. Just for a short while.

The Themysciran Sun followed the moon as it rose up to signal a new day. It has been said that there are opportunities for a new beginning every time the Sun doesn't fail to shine.

* * *

Clark opened his eyes as his body finally gained enough energy for him to wake. He looked around, his first reaction to his surroundings was a definitive "What the?" as he failed to recognise anything familiar. Except for one; there was the woman he met at the beach when he was fighting…Kara! Where was she?! His mind suddenly remembered the reason he was here; he came here following Kara then they got into a fight and he ended up running in front of this lightning bolt thing to save…he looked around. To save the woman sleeping on that chair in the far corner of the room.

He quickly pushed the sheet off him and inspected his chest, confusingly there was no damage at all. Not even a slight scratch. He remembered how painful it felt when he took that hit but now he felt good as new. Come to think about it, his body felt really rested, it made him wonder how long he's been lying here and he looked around again. The place reminded him of one of the Grecian buildings he and Kara visited with its marble floors, high ceilings and open air design. He remembered entering what he thought now was a mystical portal and winding up on the beach where he found Kara. There's no way he could still be on Greece.

He very silently swivelled his hips and put his feet on the floor, he stood up and saw that he was still wearing the trousers he put on when he went looking for Kara. He turned to the large balcony window and he saw that the Sun was rising up on the horizon, taking a few seconds to stretch out his arms and appreciate the nurturing feeling the Sun always gave him. He looked back at the woman sleeping on the chair and now he noticed that there was a sword at her side. Instantly he was on alert. Were they keeping him as a prisoner? Maybe, but last time he checked prisoners are kept in cells and not in what seemed like a Roman-Greco hotel.

He looked out towards the balcony; he could leave now if he wanted, Kara was still out there and he needed to find her. But part of him thought that it would be really rude to leave now and not say thank you to the person that probably patched him up. Clark very gingerly walked up to the chair Diana was sleeping in and nervously cleared his throat, she stirred slightly but nevertheless kept on sleeping.

Clark observed the way her long eyelashes kissed her cheeks and how smoothly her ebony curls fell down her shoulders. The thought that it would be a crime to wake someone sleeping so beautifully ran through his mind but he told himself he needed to get out of here as quickly as he can, and the sooner he can say goodbye the better. Taking a deep breath, he once again cleared his throat making sure to apply more volume. The guttural rumble had the desired effect of finally waking up the woman in front of him.

Diana slowly fluttered her eyelids but she closed them again as the light entered her eyes, she stretched her slender arms above her in a gesture of sleepiness but it had its own effects on Clark. He gruffly spoke up, "Hello?"

Diana heard a voice, _his_ voice. It definitely wasn't Epione, which must mean that the man she was supposed to be watching has already-

"Uh, hello?" Clark probed again. Diana instantly snapped to attention and got up from the chair with the sword in her hands. Clark saw that she was getting on edge and he immediately backpedalled with his hands held out and his palms open to her, "Woah-woah-woah!"

Diana, being caught sleeping assumed a defensive stance expecting some sort of attack but Clark was as still as a rock. Both of them were looking at each other anxiously and questioningly but when Clark heard Diana's heartbeat slow down he put his hands on his side and began to relax enough to speak. He said tentatively while scratching the back of his head, "Uhm, good morning?"

Diana, with her trained warrior eye looked at him intently and noticed that he seemed to be very tense, she realised he was speaking another language. From old books in the library she recognised it as English. It was a language she was not very familiar with.

"Epione!" she called out to behind her, not exactly knowing how to deal with the situation. Epione came walking inside a short moment later, "What is it Princess-oh." she interrupted herself as she saw Clark. "How long has he been awake?" she whispered to Diana.

"I don't know, he was the one to wake me."

"You fell asleep?" she asked a little disbelievingly.

Diana admitted ruefully, "I-Yes."

"I see, has he said anything?"

"He speaks a language I'm not too familiar with; English, I think."

"English, hmm. I remember it from the old books we have." She was referring to various forms of literature from Man's World that Themysciran scouts collected every half-century or so as a form of intelligence on the outside.

"Have you read many of them?" Diana asked.

"Of course, one gets curious when one is an immortal." Epione explained.

Clark didn't say anything. He felt disadvantaged. He recognised the language as Greek but he didn't understand a thing they were saying. He felt so exposed like this. He grabbed the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around his neck letting it fall down like a makeshift cloak.

"So can you speak to him?" Diana asked of Epione.

"I'm afraid I'm not too well versed. Give me a moment." she answered, Diana frowned. Then she had a brainwave, she could use Artemis' gift of Animal Empathy to see what the man was feeling. She concentrated, trying to recognise his emotions, but she felt and saw nothing as her gift failed her.

Epione cleared her throat and finally spoke in broken accented English, "How you feel?" Clark looked at the both of them as he thought about how he was going to answer, "Good…?" he said simply to which Epione nodded.

"He says he feels alright." Epione relayed to Diana.

Diana abruptly remembered, "I need to inform my mother of his consciousness."

"No need Princess, I'll just send some of the magic pigeons. You need to stay here and watch him."

Diana found the idea of staying here with him uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Are you sure? I can get to her very quickly."

"Yes, I'm quite sure. It's your responsibility to watch him anyway."

Epione bowed at her then left the room in a hurry leaving Diana alone with Clark. Clark was still standing in the corner and Diana was at the door, both could feel the awkward tension that hung in the air between them. Clark, knowing that he had to leave here as quickly as possible, said to her. "Uhm, miss…? Thanks for patching me up, but I, uh, need to go."

Diana barely half-understood, she was trying very hard to recall what little she knew of English. But she did understand the last part and she answered in a monotone voice. "No."

"Excuse me?" Clark questioned her to which Diana gave him a quizzical look indicating she didn't understand. He said very slowly, "I…" he pointed to himself, "…need…to…go." he finished as he pointed outside.

Diana repeated, "No." to which Clark sighed heavily, probably doctor's orders he told himself.

He looked at Diana once more with concentration. There was something in her deep blue eyes that kept him looking at her for longer than he should. He saw that she was very tall for a woman, she also had a muscled but lithe and graceful frame. He noticed that her hair, which earlier seemed as jet-black as his now radiated a sheening brown glow accented by her olive skin in the early Sun.

He has seen physically attractive and fit women before; Lana_, _and in a strictly objective way Kara too. But the woman in front of him was on another level. Before he could stop himself, he was already etching her beautiful appearance to his memory.

He cleared his throat, he was about to speak to ask her name then he remembered how the other woman bowed to her when she left. He took note of the golden tiara on her head, her gleaming bracelets, her ornate sword and the way she gave out a special but invisible aura helped to no end by her stun. She was most likely a person of high authority, so he decided against asking her what her name is. She probably wouldn't understand him anyway, and if she did she might think it insolent of him.

Clark walked towards the balcony. He once more observed the scenery in front of him. The morning ocean illuminated by the soft, rising Sun. Wherever he was, it was truly a beautiful place. He looked back at Diana and she looked at him, they stared at each other for a few seconds before Clark snapped his gaze away. _Goddamn it Kent._

Diana looked at him confused, so far he has not displayed any behaviour that would cause her major suspicion. She was expecting him to bellow out at her, asking for boons in return for his actions or to try and seduce her. He wasn't flaunting his body and making suggestive overtures like she would expect an Olympian to do. He looked like a man of stature; he was tall, naturally well built and his brilliant blue eyes gave the impression of someone who was knowledgeable and mature but open and youthful at the same time. It perplexed her that he was trying to get away from her instead of the very polar opposite.

Her eyes followed him as he sat down on the bed with his back turned to her. He was swivelling his neck around, obviously trying to familiarise himself with his surroundings. He wanted to leave, and part of her wanted to let him. If he didn't turn out to be an Olympian; she knew that this day would probably be his last to be able to walk without shackles on his feet and the vultures of death already pecking at him. But she was an Amazon, and she resolved to view the situation as a warrior rather than a woman, and she made herself believe that following orders was the right thing.

Clark used his vision to try and scan through the walls, but it didn't work. The walls and the floors were impenetrable, like that room he followed Kara in. Scanning the surface, he saw that the walls definitely not lead-lined in their construction. It was just normal marble and stone. It got him worried all of a sudden, which else of his other powers are disabled? Making sure the back of his head was turned away, he tried to emit heat onto his hands; he barely felt the warmth of the beam before it cut out. He tried again but no heat came out this time. He tried to oscillate his finger back and forth and it wasn't as fast as it should be. He tested his breath but that too was not working. The realisation that he was depowered brought him a wave of anxiety. With an increasing heart rate he tried to walk out the doorway but she moved to block the way with her sword pointed at him.

"Let me go." gritted Clark. Diana looked at him defiantly. "Is there any reason why you are keeping me here?" It was worth a shot but she didn't reply.

Clark eyed at the tip of the weapon pointed at him. If none of his powers were working in this room, then surely his invulnerability was also compromised. He backed away from the beautiful woman with the sword. He knew better than to challenge her, he remembered she was a fine warrior and there was something here that was neutralising his powers. Resigned, he sat back down on the bed. He briefly contemplated just jumping off the balcony and zooming off but he knew it was futile, he was vulnerable, and it wouldn't help Kara if he injured himself jumping off a balcony.

About half an hour passed before Clark heard the flapping of wings outside. He tuned his ears, to his relief his hearing was still working to an extent. The flapping of wings was followed by the tap of hooves on a hard surface, then he heard metallic clanking and women speaking to each other in the native Greek.

_Does he have gifted hearing too? _Diana's gaze was still trained on him as she too heard the winged cavalry of the Royal Guard arrive on the Healing Isle. She heard her sisters walking towards the room they were in.

When she saw them at the door, she cried, "Artemis! Philippus! What is the meaning of this?"

"_By Hera! Did he strike you?! Touch you?!"_

"_We brought the most powerful enchanted weapons from the armoury. Just say the word!"_

"_No! He didn't harm me!"_

Philippus, Artemis and about a dozen more women clad in golden battle armour and armed to the teeth entered the room and quickly surrounded Kal-El. They threatened him with swords, spears and daggers as Philippus and Artemis moved to restrain his limbs.

The women erected a shield wall between Diana and Clark, _"Princess, get behind us! Stay away from him!"_

Clark entered a state of panic and looked helplessly at Diana in confusion. She was behind the wall of shields and he saw the same helplessness emulated in her sapphire blue eyes. He moved to defend himself against the heavy chains this red-headed woman was about to place on his arms when another, dark skinned one hit him on the back of the head with the blunt tip of her spear's shaft. Clark growled at her and duly received a kick to the back of his legs forcing him to kneel on the floor. They hurriedly snapped a heavy ball and chain set on one of his feet and shackled his hands behind his back. He tried his damnedest to break the chain but to his dismay it didn't budge.

"He's restrained your Majesty!" Philippus shouted at the door. Queen Hippolyta gracefully entered the room wearing her royal robes. Clark looked up and saw her. She was definitely the one in charge here; her gait commanded authority and her mere presence exuded power. She had a striking resemblance to the other woman but the difference was the way she looked so imposing by being completely unreadable.

Queen Hippolyta spoke in perfect English with a voice that brokered absolute control, "Man, by what name is it your sire chose to call you?"

For the first time in his life, Clark felt properly intimidated. He gulped, who was he here? Was he meek Clark Kent of Smallville? Was he the son of Jor-El who chose to protect those around him? No, here on his knees in front of all these soldiers; he was an alien. "My name is Kal-El."

Hippolyta took a second to determine if his name rang a bell; it didn't. "My daughter told me that you were fighting someone on our beach when you were injured trying to protect her, is that true?"

Clark was offended, they rough him up and then they ask him questions when in his mind he didn't do anything wrong. His assumption that Diana was some sort of monarch was confirmed. He dismissed their leader's question brusquely, "Why don't you ask her? It doesn't look like you're going to place any credit in my honesty anyway."

"Answer the question, man. Is it true?"

"Yes." he groaned.

"Hmm. Where do you hail from?"

There was only one right answer Kal-El could think of. He supposed he would sound like he was being defiantly cocksure. But he wasn't going to say Smallville nor Metropolis or even Krypton or the Antarctic. He truly didn't know how he could give her the answer she would be looking for, and something told him she probably won't care specifically where he 'hailed' from.

"From not here."

Hippolyta gave him an impatient look, "That is correct; you are not from here, therefore you are trespassing. Do you know where you are, Kal-El?" He shook his head no, "You are on Themyscira, island nation of The Amazons. I am Hippolyta: their Queen. We do not know how you ended up on our shores. You are charged with trespassing this sacred place and you will await trial."

Kal-El looked at her incredulously. _Tried for trespassing?! _"I beg your pardon?!" he then added quickly, "…your Majesty?"

"You have broken one of our most significant laws, your kind is forbidden on the island."

"My kind?" he wondered. Did she mean that she knew he was an alien or…?

"Yes, your kind. Men are expressly forbidden to set foot on Themyscira and you are charged of breaking that law."

"I'm being prosecuted for being a man?"

"No, you are being prosecuted for being a man _and_ showing your presence here."

_You cannot be serious. _"And if I'm found guilty?" he asked as he looked at Hippolyta with an expression of total astonishment.

"You will be punished severely." she answered promptly. "You are hereby placed under arrest, anything you say may be held against you."

This angered Clark even more than he was, he never wanted to be here in the first place and this was the last thing he needed because Kara was still out there. He felt rightfully wronged. He grit his teeth and tried to manipulate his own field around him in the hope that something will happen. Pieces of furniture started to levitate and he himself started lifting off the floor. He felt all his strength and energy bleed out of his muscles and he began running on pure adrenaline. He knew he wasn't going to last but he's not about to give up.

Diana watched all of this with rapt attention, she noticed that he had a look of utter concentration on his face. Eventually his feet start to lift off the floor and her eyes widened. _Great Hermes! He could fly?!_

"Artemis!" Philippus shouted.

Clark's feet barely got off the floor before the red-headed woman produced a dagger and used it to cut him shallowly across his wide chest.

"No!" Diana cried out in reaction as she burst forth from behind the shields.

"Stand down Princess!" ordered Hippolyta stopping Diana cold. Clark suddenly felt light headed and woozy as he looked down at the cut Artemis inflicted on him. His last thoughts were 'poison' as he collapsed and slumped down on the floor.

Philippus turned to the other guards present, "Take him away." They briskly carried him from the room and left. She and Artemis followed them leaving Diana and Hippolyta alone. An irate Diana said, "Mother! Was all that necessary?"

"Of course, he must be shown that we do not trifle around when it comes to matters like this. A show of force is the only way to get through to his kind."

"But he has done nothing wrong!" she cried out before she could stop herself. Hippolyta narrowed her eyes at her daughter, "Do not raise your voice at me, Diana." she chastised. "Didn't I say that we are not to discuss this any further? You will be called on as a witness when we are ready to hold court, understood?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." she deliberately said with an air of spite. In her eyes he didn't do anything that warranted the treatment he received. He hasn't done anything that remotely threatened the Amazon way of life except for being here and her sisters were already regarding him like a monster. Diana hasn't seen a lot of monsters in her life but she knew enough to know that he was not.

"And Diana?" Hippolyta added.

"Mother?"

"Improve your English." she asked of her daughter. "Yes mother." Diana obeyed as she bowed to Hippolyta and flew off.

* * *

Clark woke up hours later on a cold, hard bed. His eyes took some time to adjust as the only source of light in the cell was a small hole in the ceiling where a singular ray of the sun shone through. His arms were still shackled with a long chain and his leg was still tied to a ball. But the ball didn't seem as heavy as before, he found that could pick it up easily. His powers must've returned somewhat. He pulled on the chain, he still failed to snap it even though he felt himself exerting at least some of his available normal strength. He sighed in frustration, the stupid chain must be made of some super-material he had never encountered before.

He stood in the singular ray of sunshine in the middle of the room. If he was to somehow free himself from all this craziness and find his cousin he would need to store as much radiation as he possibly can. He checked the rest of his cell and he noticed a bowl of brown soup at the base of the door. He looked at it. Seconds later the soup was boiling. He blew at it to cool it back down. A small smile came to his lips, wherever he was his powers obviously weren't as affected as they were.

* * *

Princess Diana entered the Great Library with a purpose. She made her way to the archives where books from Man's World were translated and kept. Her mother told her that she had learnt the common language ages ago using the books she was seeking. When she found them she took them all in her hand and spent the entire day in the library greedily reading and by sundown her grasp on English was exponentially improved.

When she finished her current book, she took a moment to contemplate. She found that she had been reading for reading's sake instead of simply trying to learn English. All of what she read were world history almanacs and it was clear to her that evil and greed persisted out there. Men were killing men and if they weren't killing they were doing something else detestable. Ares' influence spread far and wide as she read about the horrors of war and human behaviour. She also took note that women were capable of the same evil as men even when it was a Patriarch World out there.

But it wasn't all evil, she realised, Diana learnt that mankind was capable of great kindness as well as the opposite. Men and women alike had capacity to perform selfless acts of mercy and hope towards each other whenever they needed it most and expected it the least. It made her think of the eternal war of balance Ares and her patron Aphrodite were destined to wage and she found herself longing to join that battle on the side of goodness. Her thoughts wandered to the man on Themyscira. He was in a battle when she first met him. _Be it an act of subterfuge or kindness when he injured himself; what side was he fighting for?_

In the fading light, she made her way to the dungeons where she knew he would be imprisoned.

"Princess? What are you doing here?" asked one of the guards outside.

"Good evening Persephone." Diana greeted, "I'm here to see the prisoner."

"On whose authority may I ask?"

"Mine," she answered tersely, "are you going to disobey me?"

"Of course not, I was just curious Princess." the guard turned to another, "Take Princess Diana to his cell." Persephone bowed at Diana and she gave a nod back as she followed the other guard to Clark's cell.


	13. Chapter 13

Clark heard the guards outside conversing to someone new, he expected a troupe of guards to come in his cell and he prepared himself to move. But when the door to his cell opened there was only her; the Queen's daughter standing there, still carrying her sword. He sat up straight and his body tensed. _Interrogation, crap._

Clark was surprised though when she stayed at the door and made no hostile move towards him. Using his ears he noticed that her heart rate was above normal. After a brief moment of them staring at each other, Diana cleared her throat spoke first in that Greek accent of hers, "May I ask what is name?"

Clark tilted his head in slight bemusement,"Uh, my name?" She nodded to which he gulped, "Didn't your mother tell you?"

Diana looked at the floor and shook her head no. "Kal-El." Clark supplied.

"Hello Kal-El. My name is Diana." she said to him.

Clark's Kryptonian name was extremely strange and very foreign to Diana, yet it had an underlying robustness and a smooth virility despite of how unfamiliar it was. _Kal-El_. Like her mother before her, Diana tried to cross-reference his name to anyone she knew on Olympus and came up with the same conclusion;nothing_._

Despite coiling inwardly, Clark answered her calmly, "Pleased to meet you, Princess Diana." A beautiful name for an equally beautiful woman.

Diana regarded Kal-El's appearance, he was wearing a ragged tunic now and the chains around his arms and leg. "Are you from Mount Olympus?" she asked.

Clark heard the nervousness in her voice as she spoke, it made her seem almost approachable compared to her mother. Despite the whole situation he found himself in, he inexplicably gave a brief but warm smile at her before abruptly turning his head away.

Diana blinked, _is he shy? _He was just looking at her with a mixture of fear, nervousness and curiosity before he abruptly looked away. She had to admit that he was very handsome, and coupled with his eyes that never failed to look so blue even in the low torchlight; he had a look of curious innocence that she has never seen before and not one she would expect from a man. Remembering his name, she assured him, "Kal-El, I'm not here to hurt you."

Clark relaxed a little, he would've had to defend himself. He much preferred it if he didn't have to inflict violence on anyone at all. Especially her._ Wait what? _

Clark cleared his throat, "When did you, uh, learn how to speak English?"

"My moth-" she corrected herself, "The Queen wanted me to so I can communicate with man." she once again blurted in correction, "-you! I mean you, I need to communicate with you." It was the first time she was conversing to a man in another language and regarding her upbringing it took conscious effort for her to refer to Kal-El in second person.

Clark furrowed his eyebrows. He understood her perfectly, of course, but it was her voice; it was just…uh…it reminded him of that one conversation he had with Kara about exotic sounding women when he heard Diana's accented tongue. "Why would you need to communicate with me?" he asked.

"I am a witness at the man's trial-" She once again stammered, "-your trial." She sighed as she chastised herself inwardly, "I am a witness at your trial."

Clark chuckled a little. "So are you here to test your language skills and your pronouns?" he asked ironically with a slight hint of amusement.

Diana frowned and hastily tried to repair, "Hera! No, I think my English is fine."

"How long did it take you to learn?"

"The whole day. I knew a little before." she answered proudly.

"A whole day to learn a new language?" If Clark didn't know Kara, he would've been more impressed. "I guess you could give yourself a pat on the back."

She looked at him quizzically, "A what?"

"I meant that you should give yourself a reward or something."

"For learning a new language?"

"Yeah, not a lot of people can learn one language in a day."

Diana was intrigued by his nonchalance, "How many else do you know can learn a language in a day?"

"One or two," His tone was more serious now, "So what are you here for?"

"I want to ask you certain questions."

Clark snapped, "Did the Queen order you to do that?" His gaze and body language suddenly grew more guarded and strict.

"I-No she didn't!" Diana answered and she explained, "I just want some answers from you."

"Answers." he muttered disdainfully. "And what kind of methods are you going to use?"

"I don't under…" Diana paused as she got his meaning, "-I'm not here to force anything out of you."

"Does the Queen know you're here?"

"No, she does not."

Clark narrowed his eyes and asked disbelievingly, "So you came here because you wanted to?"

"Yes."

"Somehow I don't believe that."

"I'm not lying, Kal-El. I am here because I am curious of my own volition, not because my mother ordered me to extricate answers from you." she countered, more eloquent in her delivery.

"So you; the Princess, decided to visit me here in my cell on no-one's orders." Clark mused cynically. "You're wasting your time."

Diana frowned, "Why?"

Clark sighed, he wondered what angle she was trying to play here. Princesses don't just visit prisoners, Repeating Queen Hippolyta he said, "Princess, do you realise that anything I say here now can be held against me?" Diana suddenly remembered that tiny detail, in hindsight it was probably not a very wise idea for his sake for her to come in here and talk to him.

"There's no else in here." Diana said. "And I offer you my confidence."

"Still, I refuse to answer anything."

"There's just things I want to know." she offered. And she was being honest, she found that she wanted to ask him about how was he gifted, where he actually came from and many more and that curiosity only grew as she looked at Clark in this dinky cell.

Clark answered brusquely, "Me too, but you don't have a sentence hanging on your head." His pride already hurt by the way the Amazons treated him.

Diana grimaced; he was being quite rude, but understandably so. She decided to alter her tactics, "If you answer my question I will answer yours in return."

Clark looked at her and considered taking her up on her offer, he did have his own questions pertaining to this whole place but he didn't see the point when he had a trial looming. His answer was the same, "Again, Princess. I refuse."

"I saved you from dying," began Diana, "I took you from the beach to the Healing Isle when that woman injured you."

Clark's eyes flashed in gratitude and recognition for a second but he was still turned away. He answered flatly, "And for that I thank you."

Diana was starting to get very irritated at the way he was responding so indifferently to her, when she made her way over here for some reason she was expecting him to be more gracious and accommodating. "What you did for me on the beach; why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you do that?"

Clark chuckled sarcastically, "Ask me when I'm on trial."

"I don't see a reason why you can't answer me now."

"Are you sure you weren't sent here to interrogate me?"

"Kal-El, I want to know." she almost pleaded.

Clark said insincerely, "This might just be one of the times you don't get what you want, Princess." Clark's words further agitated Diana. He just looked at her then turned away dismissively.

Diana, her patience running thin, felt the need to explain to him why he was treated in such a hostile manner if she was going to get him to talk, "The last time men were allowed into Themyscira, my people trusted them. Those men betrayed our trust and made us suffer in the most horrible way imaginable." Clark turned to her now, and after elaborating more on the treatment of the Amazons she continued, "Those men defiled my sisters, my mother and humiliated our nation."

Clark's eyes softened, he could hear the sincerity in her voice and he understood the alleged plight of the Amazons; it was the type of thing he resolved to fight against. "I'm sorry about that." he said softly after contemplating what he just heard. In his head were images of rape and pillage, and his blood pumped heatedly at the thought of anyone defiling the regal Princess in front of him.

Diana raised her eyebrows. She expected him to acknowledge the Amazons' history, but she didn't expect him to show sympathy. This Kal-El was very different to what she had been taught men are. She asked, "Do you understand why we must be weary and guarded against men?"

Clark knew the perfect answer in his head, '_I do. I wish I could've been there to prevent it. I have been around suffering and I hate to see anyone suffer when I can do something about it. I would give myself freely to protect those that can't protect themselves. It's the reason why I did what I did on that beach.' _

But he held his tongue and simply nodded at Diana in understanding. He knew if he had gone ahead and said that it would lead to him spilling the beans about who he really was on the inside and what he believed in. He would allow himself a moment of psychological vulnerability when he was already physically so. He would expose his self to a level he would forever believe unacceptable to anyone else but his immediate family.

"If my sisters hurt you earlier, it was only because they wanted to protect us from the suffering they endured a long time ago. The Queen has to act in the best interests of her people and that is why you are here. We are not obtuse."

He assured her with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. "I understand." The rapidly healing cut on his chest was piddums compared to what he now knew his captors endured. Diana explained further, "The gods of Olympus saved us and granted us immortality and our own island. As a precaution men are not allowed on Themyscira."

_Immortality…?_ Clark mused quietly to himself. Diana felt confident enough to probe, "So can you answer my questions now?"

_Oh she's good, _Clark thought, _and really stubborn_. He briefly wondered if all she said was a sob story meant to get him to open up; but all it took was a glance at Diana's eyes and a sample of her heartbeat to convince Clark that she was being truthful. But as much as he would want to answer her candidly; indulging her curiosity was not at the top of his priorities.

First and foremost he needed to get to Kara, and that meant having to reserve all of his answering for when the Amazons try him. And he can't just rule out the possibility that this was a very subtle interrogation meant to extract information for the looming trial. His powers were still recuperating and he had to gather as much energy as he could for an escape if the Amazons actually tried to kill him after the trial.

"No. Sorry Princess." he said coolly as if nothing has been said between them.

Diana didn't miss the way he sounded inflectionless whenever he said her title, she realised that not once has he called her by her actual name. Already frustrated by his fluctuating stoicism, she confronted him about it, "Why don't you call me by my name?"

Clark knew that by using her name it would form a familiarity between them that he wanted to avoid. "What am I supposed to call you?" he asked back.

"I would prefer it if you called me Diana."

He stated logically, "You're a Princess. It would be out of place to me to call you by your given name."

Diana could sense a strange respect in his voice, "But you are not one of my subjects." she said.

"I am your prisoner though."

Diana folded her arms, "Shouldn't prisoners do what they're told?"

"No, a subject would do that. Like you said, I am not your subject."

"If you are not my subject then why shouldn't you call me Diana?"

"Would your mother appreciate it if I called her Hippolyta?" Clark countered smugly.

"There is only you and me here." she hissed.

Clark brought his arms up and clinked the chains for effect. Slightly irritated and emphasizing her title he said, "No, Princess. There is me: the only man on this island of women. And there is you and your sisters – who hate my guts and want to prosecute me. We would both do well to remember our places."

Diana felt the blood in her ears, "I didn't come here hating you."

Clark chuckled sarcastically, "Now I feel so special. If you stay here long enough that opinion might change though."

Diana's hands balled up into fists at her sides, "My mother told me all men are vile and untrustworthy, now I could see why!"

"You were the one to come here and visit me."

She pointed out, "They're going to kill you tomorrow."

Clark grimly reminded her with a grin, "You are one of them, Princess."

"I thought you would be different." she admitted ruefully as her cheeks started to redden. "But now I could see I was mistaken. You're probably a snake like all of them."

Clark narrowed his eyes at her and retorted in outburst before he could check himself, "Perhaps, but snakes don't prosecute people for trespassing like it was murder. Maybe when I get a death sentence tomorrow you could use my head as an example for the next man to unwittingly end up here. That way they'll know to answer your questions whenever you demand it of them."

Diana gasped and took a step back. Clark exhaled slowly thinking that he was now in it deep. It dawned on him that he'd managed to offend her and now he feared that he'd made things for himself a lot worse. Diana's nostrils flared as she growled something Greek at him and left the cell. Persephone outside noticed the anger in her face as she exited the dungeons.

* * *

Clark sat down on the bed feeling dejectedly heated. He was alone in his cell once more. He didn't really mean to be so cold to her like he was. But he was still quite pissed off at the Amazons for arresting him, they hurt his male pride. He just didn't know how to respond, he could tell that she was being sincere but he knew that she was still on the other side of the fence. She was their Princess! If he did respond to her earnestly he would still be here locked up and there would still be a trial waiting for him anyway, and he didn't want to form any sort of bond with her. He had to remind himself that right now that the only one on his side was Kara and finding her was the most important thing.

Diana was absolutely annoyed with him as she flew back to the palace. He wasn't evil. If he was, she wouldn't be so angry with him because she could just put down that sort of attitude to the nature of man. But it was just the way he got under her skin! She was expecting the man that jumped to save her to be more considerate and sympathetic but he was so infuriating!

She supposed that he didn't do anything wrong, he had a sharp tongue but he wasn't threatening at all. He wasn't being physically menacing or insulting to her like she was taught men were. His attitude gnawed at her, but Diana could tell that there was something under the surface with him. She thought he would be different, and he was, for moments in that cell she thought he was going to be something else but then was completely indifferent and rude to her! Of all the characteristics she previously tied to him, being passive aggressive was not one she would expect.

The possibility that he was an infiltrator sent by Ares relied on him trying to gain her trust, which he didn't, so he must be something different.

She forced himself to see it like he would, she was sure he was going to be sentenced to die tomorrow unless someone from Olympus comes telling the Amazons that he was not to be touched. But the chances of that were obviously nothing. Despite everything, she still felt the guilt that he was going to die by their hands.

* * *

Clark was having his morning 'breakfast' in the singular ray of sun when he heard the door on his cell open. He cringed, maybe it was the Princess again.

But it was the red-haired woman and another bunch of guards that greeted him instead. He sighed to himself and got up, making sure to keep his head bowed down so they wouldn't feel the need to hit him again. The guards covered his head with a bag and led him outside.

He could see straight through the burlap sack. Clark made sure to add a limp to his gait as if the ball on his leg still affected him. Along the way he saw old Grecian buildings and women sneering in disdain at him, he even got hit with the odd tomato. Clark felt the effects of the intense Themysciran Sun on his body, it felt as refreshing as taking a cold shower after a day's work.

The procession arrived at the grand palace where he guessed his trial was to be held. It was very opulent; there were ornate marble surfaces, statues of Greek gods, and the fascia was eye-catchingly golden. He was corralled to a large hall where women were waiting for him. There were women seated on rows on the sides of the room and a panel of authority seated on a dais in the front. He recognised the Queen, the Princess, and the other woman from yesterday among those seated in front of him. He was in the middle of it all.

They took off the sack on his head. Upon seeing his face the room stirred as the women whispered among themselves. Clark couldn't tell what they were saying, but it can't be anything nice. Clark's eyes met Diana's. She looked rather angry but still blank for the most part.

Another woman took her place next to him. She had orange hair and blue eyes, and like the rest of the Amazons he thought she was quite attractive. But she couldn't hold a candle against the Princess, she was like a Pheonix in a flock of flamingos.

_Now where did that come from?_ The corners of his mouth twitched at his own silliness, if the women here could read his mind he probably would be executed on the spot.

Hippolyta stood up and raised her hand, instantly the whole courtroom fell silent. "_Sisters, as you can see, there is a man on our island,_"

The room murmured before falling silent again. The woman next to Clark spoke up and relayed the sentence to him in English. _Ah, she's the translator _he realised.

Hippolyta continued, "As you all know, any man short of an Olympian god is banned from setting foot on our island. So before we begin this tribunal, we must ask him who he is first."

Hippolyta looked to Clark and regarded him with that royal glare of hers, "You are bound by this court to speak only the truth when we ask it of you. Do you swear to speak only the truth?"

"Yes, your Majesty." There was really no point in lying, Clark thought. In his mind he would get his freedom if he has to win it or fight for it, but he would not lie.

Hippolyta was the judge. The jury was comprised of random Amazons picked throughout the island. Then came Hippolyta's opening statement,

"Millennia ago, this proud nation was founded on the heels of tragedy perpetrated by men. Out of tragedy we found strength in each other in isolation from the outside world. That strength has endured peacefully through the ages uninterrupted by any outside influences. Man, you are accused by this body of trespassing on Themyscira. The penalty for which is death."

Clark felt all the eyes turn on him.

"The Princess found you on the beach, fighting another woman. Who, to my concern has not made an appearance. Therefore this trial will proceed with the Princess and Epione being the witnesses."

She asked him, "Man, what is your name?"

The other woman translated for the others as Clark answered, "My name is Kal-El."

Hippolyta turned to the others, "Sisters, do we know of any Olympian by the name 'Kal-El'?"

Clark sighed, the room responded with a collective "No!"

"Kal-El," Hippolyta began, "are you an Olympian?"

Diana held out hope that he would answer yes. Clark deflated it, "I'm not from Olympus."

The whole room roared, that was all the Amazons needed to know. It didn't matter where he was from; as long as he wasn't an Olympian they had free reign to prosecute him to the fullest extent of Amazonian law. "Very well," said Hippolyta, "let us begin."

The whole room settled and Hippolyta sat back down on her throne on the raised dais. "Kal-El, do you have any questions?"

Clark wondered if there was some sort of convention in place here. He spoke with a raised voice, "Do I get any accused rights?"

"You have the right to a public hearing, you have the right to a witness, and you have the right to be heard by an impartial tribunal. You have the right to speak," she gestured to the woman next to him, "this is Alexa. You have the right to a translator so that we can all understand you."

Clark mind scoffed at the impartial part. Everyone here was prejudiced, including the Princess judging by the way she was looking at him. Still, at least they gave him the chance to speak, it was better than a straight up execution.

Hippolyta turned to ask Diana, "Princess Diana, what did you see on that beach?"

Diana explained, in a calm and composed voice of how she found Clark on the beach fighting with Circe. She was about to go on to the part where Clark took a bolt for her but Hippolyta cut her off.

Hippolyta asked Clark, "What was the purpose of you being on Themyscira?"

"I was following my cousin." Clark answered.

"Your cousin?"

"Yes, she told me she was in trouble and I went looking for her."

Hippolyta narrowed her eyes, "Is she the one you were fighting?"

"Yes." The room gasped in disgust, what kind of a man fights his female cousin? Hippolyta prodded, "Why were you fighting your cousin?"

Clark answered as honest as he could, "She hit me first."

Hippolyta huffed. "Princess, can you confirm this?"

"No, they were already battling each other when I arrived."

Hippolyta pondered for a second before turning to Clark, "What was your cousin doing on Themyscira?"

"I honestly don't know." he answered. Hippolyta exhaled in exasperation. "So, you came to Themyscira following your cousin, who in turn has no discernible reason for being here?"

"She told me she was in trouble and I followed her here, I didn't know where she was going." Clark felt uncomfortable being scrutinised like this, he hated the one thing he used to crave. He hated being the centre of attention, exposed and bare. It was a chief reason he never showed his face publicly in Metropolis whenever he went about his nightly activities.

Hippolyta, who looked a little frustrated, asked Diana, "What happened afterwards?"

Diana began on telling of how she fought Kal-El and all around the eyes looked upon him in disdain. As she told of how he saved her, her statement was met with murmurs of disbelief all around the room. But she saw that Kal-El was just looking distantly at the floor.

"Kal-El is this true?" Hippolyta's voice rang acidly to Clark. "Yes it is." he answered bluntly.

"Why did you save the Princess from your cousin, when you were trying to fight both of them?"

Clark answered with confidence, "I was only defending myself from her and the Princess. I was trying to reason with my cousin when the Princess arrived; she as well attacked me first."

Hippolyta looked at Diana for confirmation, she nodded her head yes. It was her who rushed into the battle.

Hippolyta looked at Clark as if wanting him to continue. He added, "I saw my cousin attack the Princess, and I know she's very powerful. So I did what I had to do."

Hippolyta seemed very interested now, "Why, Kal-El? Why did you save her?"

Diana sat up on the edge of her seat, she found herself anticipating his answer since she too wanted to know.

Clark answered plainly with a miniscule shrug, "I'd hate to see it if she got hurt when I could've done something about it.""

Seeing Hippolyta narrow her eyes on him again made him swallow a lump. He might've seemed evasive, but that was all there is to it; he did what he did because he can.

Diana felt initially disappointed in his answer, she expected more gusto from him. It seemed to her that he saw his actions as unremarkable as a lovely walk on a beach. But as she pondered his words further, she saw that genuine sincerity in him as he looked timidly at his surroundings. She realised that he didn't do what he did for any other reason other than what he said. He didn't have an agenda, and he didn't want any rewards.

She felt her anger at him dissipate; she knew humility when she saw it.

Hippolyta asked, "Are you sure you are not a minion of Ares sent here to infiltrate us?"

"Who's Ares?" he returned.

"He's someone we do not take kindly to." Alexa felt the need to inform him, that sentiment also meant for him. Hippolyta huffed before continuing with her questioning, "Princess, instead of acting like a warrior, you brought him to the Healing Isle. Why?"

Diana thought long about her answer. Her mother was right, every other Amazon on the island wouldn't've thought twice about killing Kal-El if they were faced with the same situation. But Diana was not like all the others, her actions weren't predicated with prejudice. Her mother and her sisters all loved each other and taught her to do the same. But for Diana, her capability for equal and unconditional benevolence can extend to anyone.

She stated with conviction, "I couldn't let him die. After what he did for me, it would've been dishonourable for me to leave him to his injuries." She was met with looks of confused disapproval from others in the audience.

Clark looked beseechingly at Diana for a fleeting moment upon hearing her words. It recurred to him the callous way he thanked her in his cell the night before. He never thought about how significant and defiant it was for an Amazon to show mercy for a man. It occurred to Clark that these proud warriors had a code in battle; the way Diana should've acted was to finish him off and grant him a warrior's death. But she didn't. Her vocal reasoning for doing so seemed believable enough, but Clark could see that it was more than just honour.

Their gazes were locked onto each other, searching for the answers that neither of them cannot express at this moment in time. His jaw was tight and his face was blanked over. He was stoic. But it was his soft blue eyes that gave everything away. It was a concentrated expression of gratitude that reached out to her, and only her.

Hippolyta continued on with the trial, questioning Epione if Kal-El did anything that constitutes a bigger offense during his time on the Healing Isle. Epione answered truthfully in that he didn't do anything at all from the moment he arrived in Diana's arms to the morning of his arrest, Diana spoke and informed the panel that Kal-El was very eager to leave when he woke up.

Upon further questioning, Clark said, "I needed to find my cousin. She might be in grave danger."

Hippolyta sternly reminded him, "If what has been said is to be believed, she attacked the Princess as well. Your cousin is as much of a threat to us as you are, Kal-El. Rest assured we will try her too."

Clark sent a hard glare to no one in particular as he clamped his jaw hard. Kara; no matter what's wrong with her, is still his only family. They would have to kill him first. He hoped to get to the bottom of it before anything worse happens.

That being said the circumstances surrounding Kara's actions were most baffling to him. Kara was completely fine when he left her, he knew she was enjoying a night out in Athens before he heard her distress call.

"Do you have anything else to say in defense of your crime, Kal-El?"

Clark stood up straight bringing his full height and stature forth. He addressed the court, "Your Majesty, Amazons," he spoke confidently, but without arrogance, "I am truly sorry that I broke your law. But I never wanted to be here, much less threaten your way of life. I came here solely due to the instinct to protect my family, believe me when I say I want to leave here as quickly as possible."

Hippolyta, surprised by his candidness sent a scrutinising glare at Kal-El which he returned with just as much conviction.

"Diana, do you have anything more to say?"

It was at this time Artemis and another woman entered the courtroom. Diana froze.

"Your Majesty, forgive the interruption," Artemis bowed, "but sister Persephone here has something to add to this tribunal."

Clark wondered who this woman was, he's never seen her. "_Your Majesty,_" Persephone began, "_it would interest this hearing to know that the Princess visited the man in his cell last night._" Diana's and Hippolyta's eyes grew wide, "_I don't know what transpired between them but when the Princess left I noticed she was visibly perturbed and in a state more provoked than when she arrived._"

The audience, and even Alexa next to Clark gasped. When Alexa finally conveyed Clark the translation he pinched his nose between his eyes and swore under his breath in dread.

The Queen glared at her daughter, "Is what Persephone said true?"

Diana gulped, "Yes."

Hippolyta's eyes flashed at her daughter and then her stare was directed angrily to Clark. To Diana she asked, "Princess, what were you doing in his cell?"

Diana took a deep breath, "I wanted to speak to him." Hippolyta sent her a reprimanding raise of her brows, "I wanted to know for myself why he injured himself for me." Diana added, "He angered me."

Hippolyta fumed at the thought of her daughter being violated by this man, "What did you do to her, Man?"

Clark asserted, "I didn't do anything. I swear."

Hippolyta tried to sound calm, "You offended the Princess Kal-El…"

"Is that a crime too?" Clark retorted sharply.

Hippolyta exasperated, "You will watch what you say here Kal-El, and you will tell this court what you did to anger the Princess."

Clark gritted, "I didn't do anything. I refused to answer any of the Princess' questions."

Hippolyta turned to Diana, who had to explain to this court that he didn't actually do anything that constitutes another crime. "I went to his cell to satisfy my curiosities, and nothing else. He didn't want to oblige me and it bothered me the way he was being evasive and apathetic to me. He didn't strike out at me."

Clark heard the translation and responded, "I was only being impolite due to the circumstances I find myself in. I never wanted to upset anyone."

Hippolyta and the jury still weren't convinced. Clark challenged the entire courtroom, "You can judge me for the act of trespassing and I would accept what you people decide. But you'd all have to brand the Princess a liar and charge her of contempt before you can smite me for whatever you think happened in that cell."

Clark spoke with passion and unwavering certainty, and his argument carried a lot of weight. The Amazons in the room were relieved to realise that he and Diana spoke the truth. Hippolyta, weirdly, found herself impressed with the way the tender-looking young man spoke with maturity and fire.

"Very well," the Queen conceded, "the court will take both of your words for it. But Diana, what you have done can be interpreted as tampering, this may well be taken into account when the jury decides on a verdict."

"I understand." Diana said, she should've known better. Hippolyta stood up from her throne, "The jury will now deliberate on what has been evidenced here. We shall take an intermission." The jury of Amazons stood up from their seats and proceeded into a separate room to decide Kal-El's verdict.

* * *

What seemed like hours passed as the jury deliberated on the decision they would have to make. Kal-El rubbed his head in nervous contemplation, he felt a headache coming on. Kal-El was in an open air courtroom where they led him to. He guessed the reason he was allowed some degree of freedom here was because the Amazons believed this was his last day as a non-condemned man.

He was enjoying the Sun when a familiar female voice called from behind him, "Kal-El?"

"Princess," he turned around surprised, "are you supposed to be here?" he quickly asked.

"No I'm not, but I was assured I am at least allowed to speak to you without any legal restraints."

He said wryly, "That's good, wouldn't want another incident where I allegedly violate you."

Diana tilted her head and frowned pensively at him, not quite understanding his dryness. Clark saw her confusion and chuckled lightly. "Thanks for telling the truth by the way." he added.

"You don't have to thank me for that, Kal-El."

Clark found himself smiling, "So, uh…" he was looking at her too long again "…did you get the answers you were looking for?" he asked her gently.

Diana, seeing him smile nervously returned a small and nervous smile of her own, "Yes, well, most of them anyway."

"I'm glad." Clark said, then he looked away much in the same manner as he did the night before. Diana began, "I-I'm sorry if I got you into more trouble than you were already in."

Clark looked backed at her now, there was no anger in his face as he said, "No need to apologise Princess. I understand better now why you might've had questions."

Diana's eyes widened, "You do?"

Diana wasn't as angry at him as she was last night. The strenuous comparisons between the archetypal Amazon image of a man and Kal-El were getting further and further apart. Clark continued with a shrug, "I guess I was just really angry at the time."

"I can't blame you for that, Kal-El. We haven't exactly been the most gracious of hosts."

"Yeah, I guess," Clark replied with a shrug, "That's cool though. And I too should apologise, I didn't mean to tick you off." Diana wondered for a second what 'tick off' meant and sighed in relief. Somehow, hearing his apology meant more to her than she thought it would.

"Apology accepted Kal-El." she answered. "You said that the woman was your cousin?"

Clark nodded at her. "What is her name?" Diana asked. She knew he was probably going to be sentenced guilty, and she wanted to know the name of his cousin of who he was basically going to die for.

"Kara." he told her, "Why'd you want to know?"

"Well, if we are to find Kara, we are going to need to know her name."

"Hopefully that'll happen sooner rather than later." he offered. Diana found his calm attitude slightly unsettling for a man about to face a verdict.

They stayed in companionable silence until Alexa approached the two. "Princess," she bowed, "It's time."

* * *

Hippolyta returned from the jury room she was called into a few minutes ago. She had a scroll in her hand. Clark suddenly felt a bout of nerves in anticipation of what he was about to hear. Hippolyta unfurled the scroll and announced,

"While his reasons may be noble, the laws are still the laws; they have protected this great nation and will continue to protect it as long as we strive to honour them to their fullest extent." Hippolyta raised her eyes from the scroll and looked at the room meaningfully.

"We have taken all of your words in consideration, Kal-El. And after much deliberation. This court finds you…" she paused "…guilty of the crime of trespassing on Themyscira."

The courtroom once again buzzed and Clark tightened his jaw in frustration, he hoped so badly that it wouldn't come to this.

Hippolyta delivered, "Tomorrow, at high noon, the whole nation will watch as this just sentence is carried out for you to die."

Diana felt her heart drop. She hadn't imagined the full implications that hearing his sentence would have on her, in fact she was quite shocked at how she found herself inwardly reacting like this. She was an Amazon, and it was wrong for her to feel pity, compassion and mercy for a man. He didn't do anything wrong, he acted to protect those close to him and he didn't deserve to die. It was wrong, it was all wrong.

Hippolyta was silently deep in thought. Like Diana, she only knew the verdict when she read it out. Something in the back of her head was telling her that Kal-El deserved a second chance. But she was the Queen, and she must be resolute in her leadership. She kept on reading the verdict in front of her,

"But the Amazons are an honourable race, and we recognise honour when we see it…"

Everyone's ears perked up for what was to follow. Even Hippolyta anticipated the rest of the scroll.

"…even in death, we believe that anyone should be able to keep their honour. The jury has took note of the alleged actions the man took to protect the Princess; so if the accused pleads guilty to his crime a concession will be made…"

Clark heartbeat increased steadily, anything to avoid bloodshed was his only option. As soon as Alexa translated for him he blurted "I plead guilty to my crime!" His plea echoed throughout the hall, eliciting gasps from the audience. Hippolyta eyed him intently, he didn't realise that she wasn't finished reading.

Hippolyta continued grimly despite his premature declaration, "…and in the event the accused pleads guilty to his crime. Instead of an execution, his sentence will be carried out in the traditional Amazon way…"

Diana dropped back into her seat. _It couldn't be...? __Gaea?! _

"…Trial by Combat."

* * *

Clark was back in his cell, the light once again fading as the Sun yields to the Moon. _Trial by Combat_ he repeated in his head. They were going to get him to kill someone for his freedom.

_Holy actual shit._

He's been around death many times in his life, he saw it in the news, saw it happen around him and it only affirmed his belief that all life is sacred. Of course, he wasn't so blindingly naïve to think that taking a life is never an option. But he's not a soldier, not an enforcer, not a warrior like them. He was just a kid from another planet. Killing should be the absolute _last _option, and it was an option that he knows he is no moral position to make. He was not going to kill anyone for the sake of regaining his innocence.

It presented a serious dilemma for him; if he doesn't fight, they kill him anyway. And if he does fight, there's no way he'll be able to bring himself to kill another person.

He put a plan into effect. It wasn't the most elegant of plans, but anything to prevent anyone getting hurt was good enough in his mind. His powers should be back to normal levels by tomorrow. The moment they free him of these chains on his hands and legs he should be able to zoom out of all this, find Kara, and leave.

* * *

Diana protested her thoughts once everyone had retired for the night. "Mother, this isn't right." Diana said to Hippolyta as soon as she entered her room.

Hippolyta was sat down on a divan and they were alone in her private chambers, "What is right and what is wrong will be decided in battle tomorrow." she stated coolly.

"He doesn't deserve to die!"

Hippolyta looked up at her daughter's steely blue eyes, "We have had this conversation before Diana-"

"We are going to kill a man for looking out for his family." Diana upheld, "There is no law in Themyscira that binds us to such inhumanity!"

Diana knew that she was overstepping her bounds as a Princess, but she didn't care for her station when her morality was telling her where she stood. She was expecting a sound thrashing from her mother the Queen. But instead of rebuking her for insubordination; Hippolyta let out a soft sigh, "I understand why you might feel that way."

Diana blinked. Hippolyta continued, "I too find myself ill at ease with the situation we have here." She wasn't the cold and pragmatically unfeeling politician that she had to be when dealing with nasty affairs now they were alone. She was hurt by what happened in the past, but she was still a human. Against what she knew men are to be, she too found herself feeling some sympathy towards Kal-El.

Diana pressed determinedly, "Then mother you must realise that what we are doing is against what we believe in. We believe in peace through strength and vice versa. Not one exclusive of the other."

Hippolyta explained defensively, "Daughter, as a Queen; I find myself having to straddle the line between being a woman and a ruthless warrior. A warrior that the people expect to make the tough decisions." She sighed further, "The court decided that he was guilty. And as the judge I must be the one to put that into effect. I am a monarch, child, not a dictator." she reminded her.

"And what of his cousin? Do we kill her too?" Diana questioned, almost indignant.

"We must go with what the people want."

"Which would be?"

"We'll go through the same process, Diana," Hippolyta said. "We hold a trial and we decide on a verdict."

Diana argued, "We don't know who they are, we don't hold the right be the judges of their fate."

"Morally, no. But they are on our land, therefore they are subject to the law which governs it."

Diana sat down on the divan next to her mother, "These laws that protect us mother; they were written at a time when we were angry, wrathful, and seeking vengeance. What good are our laws when they turn us back into that state?"

"Daughter, you must understand that we are going to exist for a long time. And the laws should be able to protect us for the entirety of our existence. They are harsh, yes, but in a thousand years' time we may look onto this event as an example of when the laws protected our nation from the evils of men."

Diana insisted, "Athena knows it's paranoia, mother, not protection."

"Regardless, the sentence has been decided upon and we must carry it out."

"Who is going to be his opponent? Philippus?" Diana asked.

Hippolyta looked knowingly at her daughter and her implication became clear. "I will not be the one to slay him!" Diana protested vehemently.

"Princess, you are the most powerful being on the island…" Hippolyta began.

"And I very well wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the man that we are going to kill tomorrow." Diana asserted. "Can you honestly look me into the eye and call me honourable if I did what you're proposing?"

"I understand what you're saying Diana, I really do." Hippolyta softly acquiesced.

"I can't…" she faltered, "...I can't kill him."

Hippolyta held her daughter's hand, "Diana, do you remember when I taught you that to die honourably means to live honourably?"

"Yes."

"Then it would be an honour unto you to make sure that he dies a warrior's death instead of one at the gallows."

"Hera, why can't Philippus or Artemis take that place?"

"Because we don't know what this man is capable of, Diana. Epione told us as much when he healed at a very fast rate. Suppose he is an agent of Ares?" Hippolyta mused, "He denied it, but we have to meet any threat."

Hippolyta had a point. Diana herself does not know the full extent of his powers, she knew he had the ability to move fast and heal fast which would give him a huge advantage. It would not be an equal fight against her sisters; but with the gifts granted to her by the gods she would be on equal footing with him.

Diana remembered his arrest on the Healing Isle when he seemed to be able to fly. She would not allow any of her sisters to be grossly overmatched. And she was trained by the best.

"I'll fight tomorrow." Diana declared grimly, "But it will not be entertainment for anyone. I will end him cleanly and as painlessly as I can. I will not revel in victory like one would in a competition."

Hippolyta offered her daughter a small smile, "We have to do what we have to do." She then said proudly. "The nation has faith in their Princess, they have faith in the training she has been given along with the gifts the gods have given her. You will represent us tomorrow."

Diana leaned into her mother, needing the strength to go through with this. She was contemplating the act of taking a life. She was trained from childhood never to show weakness in battle. Her convictions were to be as sharp as the blade she wielded. Ares' harshness taught her mental strength and perseverance. Philippus taught her the skills, tactics and the psychological soundness one should have as a warrior.

Honour and duty.

But living among her family of sisters also taught her how to love each other like you would yourself.

She will take no pleasure nor pride at all from doing this. Kal-El deserves to die as honourably as she can grant, even if he didn't deserve to die in the first place.

* * *

The Sun beat down hard on the arena. All of the women on the island were gathered in the Grand Coliseum to watch the upcoming battle between the man and the champion selected by the Queen herself.

Clark was led into a room with weapons of all sorts laid out on a rack. He was informed by the guards that he was allowed to choose whichever tool he desired. Axes, spears, daggers, swords and maces of all shapes and sizes were his for the taking. His limbs were still shackled and he was told his bonds would be removed when the call for battle sounded.

To the surprise of the guards though he refused to take any weapon with him despite their encouragement that he would need one. He found the images of violence he envisioned with the weapons very unappealing. He also refused to wear any battle armour, it was just going to weigh him down.

One thing he didn't refuse though was the hearty breakfast the Amazons offered him earlier in the morning, any little source of energy he very much appreciated.

After one more assurance to his guards that he didn't want to take anything, they led him through the halls of the coliseum into the arena floor. Kal-El came into view of everyone and instantly he was booed and jeered. So much so that he consciously had to take a moment to try and block out the noise of five thousand throaty Amazons expressing their fondness of him.

Clark looked up, scanning the crowd and seeing the royal box. Queen Hippolyta, as regal as ever was sitting on a throne surrounded by the Royal Guard. Clark wondered where the Princess was; surely she would want to witness this.

Suddenly the arena went deathly silent, it was the Queen who had to make an announcement.

"_Amazons! Today we witness the sentencing of a man guilty of trespassing our sacred boundaries!"_

The crowd roared.

"_He has opted to partake in the age-old ritual of trial by combat. The law bid us to select a Champion who will determine if he is worthy of whichever god he worships, Glory be to Gaea!"_

The crowd roared even louder and everyone's eyes turned to the other side of the arena where Clark's opponent made her entrance.

He could see that she was tall, she was wearing the most ornate yet efficiently lethal piece of golden battle armour on what was presumably a well-muscled frame. In one hand, she held a dual-lance with an eagle-bladed pike on one end and a spear tip on the other. No shield. Her hair, which spilled out from her graceful helm was long and curly; waves of ebony that shaded brown in sun's sheen.

_''Mother of..."_ he trailed. Clark's mind went back to the absence of Diana in the royal box. This must be a sick joke. There's absolutely no way in hell he's going to do what they think he's going to do. Not to anyone, and especially not to her. Not to the beautiful Princess who saved him. No way.

Diana saw him, to her bemusement he was not dressed nor equipped for battle at all. A ragged tunic, boots and the torn trousers he wore since the day he arrived. She was wondering if he knew what he was doing or that he was confident in his abilities to such an extent that he didn't see the need for any weapons.

Diana was great with a sword, even better with a pike. In fact she was proficient in all the weapons one would find on the island. But when she saw that she was to fight an unarmed man, it had the potential to disarm her conscience.

She expected him to take full advantage of the chance for freedom. She had woken up early today to warm herself up for the battle. She practiced the whole morning with her favourite weapon; a pike. It had been so since Philippus told her of how she defeated her mother using the pike. She was taught by Philippus of how effective it was in both long-range offence, quick defence as well as on horseback. And it was a melee weapon that could double as a javelin. She remembered the talk she had with her daskalos this morning;

"This is a beautiful weapon, teacher." she said to Philippus as she handed Diana the enchanted dual-lance she was to use in the upcoming combat.

"Aye, it is as beautiful as it is deadly."

Diana swung the weapon against a dummy, low slashes at the knees then a follow-up thrust at the torso. "Very good, Princess. You're as ready I think as you'll ever be." Philippus praised her, proud of her student.

Diana said nothing as she continued a series of defensive spin moves followed gracefully by killing blows to the poor hay dummies in the training room.

She was like a tempest, the lance and her combined to from a tornado of fury.

"Have you thought about what a day like today would be like?"

"Of course, it would be like my first hunt." Diana tried to mask off the dread under the cool warrior surface.

"Similar, but not quite. You are not hunting today Princess. You are going to kill; there is a fundamental difference that one could only understand and experience but never be fully prepared for."

"Just like you taught me; 'Focus every sense and sharpen every thought, then do the reverse."

Philippus offered an understanding smile, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, teacher, I am ready."

She circled her opponent all the way from the other side. Today will be the first day she ends a life.

* * *

Three whole days. Three whole days was the time it took for Circe to regain her strength. In the magical jungles of Themyscira she was surrounded by magic and yet she still took a long time to get used to her new body. She hadn't fully adapted to her new senses yet and resorted on placing a spell to muffle her ears and to tone down her vision. But having this body had advantages, she could move very fast, she was very strong and those senses can see and hear things from a long distance whenever she could finally learn to control them.

Circe moved along the outlying buildings of the city and surprisingly it was all empty. Not a single Amazon in sight. Her plan was to quite simply kill and maim as much of them as she can and force the rest to surrender, making them vulnerable to her mind control. Her fingertips were crackling with the anticipation of a fight but there was no one here.

Momentarily, she relaxed the spell on her senses. She heard the cheers of a very large crowd.

* * *

It was Alexa that walked up to Clark with a key in her hand. He held out his manacled hands for her and he smiled at her primly when she released him from her bonds. Clark stretched out his arms like a tiger, savouring the freedom that their release gave him.

The crowd's cheers and a horn signalled the order to begin. He barely had the chance to look at the golden figure covering the sandy arena.

Diana closed the distance, the eagle blade was aimed at Clark's neck where the nerves carrying pain signals can be severed before any sensation.

He saw it and her, and when it seemed Diana was about to sever his neck he quite inhumanly sidestepped her thrust leaving Diana to overshoot.

She spun around gracefully with the lance stretched out to discourage any attempts to attack her, but he was just standing where she saw him last.

Facing him, she went into her well-practiced series of offensive spins. Each one bringing the blade down on her opponent on the half-spin and then following with the opposite spear tip when she completed a full circle sweep with her blade.

She was expecting his blood to spill out at the end of her spear, but it was clean. He had avoided every single attack, the closest she came was a grazing hit on one of his arms.

Clark was actually fearful, his blood was pumping fast. The last swing had almost chopped his arm off!

Diana growled at her opponent, she refused to think of him as the man that shielded her on that beach; there was no room for vulnerabilities in battle.

She scanned his eyes, trying to predict his movements, but she found nothing. There was nothing in them that even indicated any intent to attack. They were just a warm and bright cerulean blue.

Then suddenly he lifted from the ground. He went high above her and moved skyward, he was about to crest the top of the coliseum when Diana flung herself into the sky and launched the lance like an airborne javelin. It sliced through the air at such speed that Kal-El didn't hear it. Supersonic.

He felt a searing pain in his calf. He fell back onto the sandy arena floor followed by the lance that hit him. The crowd erupted at seeing the explosion of dust.

Diana felt her spirit grow heavy. This was the feeling Philippus tried to convey to her. She took her helm off as she said a silent prayer to the Underworld. She dropped the golden helm on the sand and walked away with her head down. The crowd suddenly fell silent again, she looked back,

That hurt, a lot. Clark stood up from the crater he had created and eyed the bloodied weapon a distance from him. It was his blood on that thing. He stood and picked the weapon up from the floor.

Everyone on the arena was dumbstruck as Clark appeared from the dust with the Princess' lance in his hand. He took a run up and threw the weapon into the air with all his might. Philippus' most treasured weapon was gone into nowhere.

Diana, surprised at first was angered by this action charged with only her fists. She collided with him in the centre, Clark could see and feel that the Princess was not holding anything back. She was strong, stronger than even Kara when they sparred in the Antarctic. He was having a very hard time warding off her punches and kicks and she connected more often than not.

Clark shoved her off and she jumped back to her feet. She tried a sweeping high kick which he met with a forearm twist, sending her tumbling for a half-step.

Diana drew back, in all her years she has never met anyone that was as strong as her save for the God of War. This…this experience of going all out was exhilarating! Adrenaline fuelled her veins! He was just as fast as her, just as strong, and by the look of things he was not lacking in skill either.

He lifted off the ground into the air again, and she followed suit and tackled him back to the floor. They fell rolling on top of each other.

Clark scowled at her now, "Diana! Let me go!"

She was about to throw a punch when she realised that he had just called her Diana for the first time. She kept on her attack though, refusing to acknowledge him.

After another series of parries, counters, and blows Clark said angrily, "Stop this, before someone actually gets hurt!"

One of the women in the sidelines threw a backup pike at Diana, she spun it over her head hoping to intimidate him. "Are you a coward, man?" she defiantly challenged him.

Clark grimaced, he's about had enough now. His eyes turned into a bright red and beams of concentrated solar energy superheated the steel shaft in Diana's hand. She reflexively dropped it and it turned into molten liquid on the sand.

"Stop this now. I have no desire to fight." Clark gritted, his eyes still threateningly aflame. "Let me go. I will leave here and you nor your sisters will never see me again."

Diana hesitated. He looked like a red spectre. A furious but controlled demon about to emit death.

Suddenly white balls of energy started hitting the pillars and explosions went off around them. The crowd entered a state of panic as a blonde woman with dark roots materialised in the arena above Clark and Diana.

"What are you doing?!" Diana shrieked.

"This isn't me!" he cried back.

"Hello sisters!" Circe declared loudly.

Clark looked up, her heartbeat wasn't the same. Her hair seemed to be turning black, "Oh my God…Kara…" He muttered in wide-eyed shock.

Circe looked around her, she recognised a lot of the faces on the crowd. She drew her gaze into one woman in particular; she was still as royal and majestic as she remembered. The stuck-up harlot. Oh how good her head would look skewered upon her mantelpiece!

Hippolyta and Philippus saw the unfamiliar woman in front of them. She was not an Amazon, otherwise her name would've already been loose from their lips. But those purple eyes; deep, evil and full of hate…Hippolyta would recognise those malicious eyes anywhere.

* * *

**_A/N:_**_ I enjoyed writing this chapter, in fact I enjoy writing them all really. This story arc contains the first time Diana and Clark meet each other, and I thought it would be profound for them to get a bearing on each other's outer shell now as opposed to them meeting each other when they're already in costumed alter-egos and burdened with the responsibilities. Next chapter will contain more of the same type of that pseudo-semi-fluffyish-but-not interaction (I hope you get what I mean) as the arc continues with Circe's hullabaloo. _

___If you have any thoughts at all regarding the story I would love to hear them whether good or bad and at your discretion of course. _Thanks for the continued readership and support. You guys that leave reviews; high-five. 


	14. Chapter 14

Confused Amazons scrambled out of their seats, some being felled by the explosions. Circe was supposed to be banished for eternity and yet she was here. Hippolyta knew in her mind that it was her.

She turned to her most trusted advisor, "Philippus, do you see what I see?"

"Your eyes do not deceive you, Hippolyta." Circe answered for her loudly.

Hippolyta seethed, "How have you come back?"

"Magic." she laughed.

"Is that what selling one's soul to a heathen god is called these days?" Hippolyta jibed.

"Better a real deity than the petty cretins of Olympus." Circe scoffed. "By the way, has Zeus come down yet to show you how much he _really _appreciates your worship?" she added in a tone implying less than impure insinuations.

"How dare you, witch?!" Hippolyta reacted. Circe grinned and then attacked her.

"Get down!" Philippus screamed as she tackled Hippolyta to the floor, avoiding a blast of energy that destroyed her throne behind her.

"Check if your mother is alright!" Clark shouted at Diana who was already flying to the royal box. He flew up to Kara, "Kara! What're you doing?!"

Circe grinned evilly at him, "You're still alive? Has there been a policy change that I'm not aware of?" she said as she floated closer to him.

Clark made sure to keep his distance and to keep his guard up. "Hmm. Well, you are quite handsome. I could see why the Amazons would want to…" she paused as she appraised Clark up and down, "…_preserve _you." she finished suggestively.

"Listen, Kara. Whatever's gotten into you-" Clark was interrupted when Circe started cackling in laughter.

"Aww, look at you," Circe began mockingly, "I'm afraid, beautiful; that your dear young Kara is dead." she said in fake sincerity.

Clark growled angrily, "Who are you?!"

Circe laughed again. "I'm an Amazon." She cast an information spell and projected an image of what happened to Kara in her last moments. He watched her scream in pain as Circe possessed her. Clark gripped his head in denial, "No! No! What've you done to her?!"

Circe tapped her chin, "I've taken control of her body and in the process killed her a little. Hmm, maybe I could do the same to you…" she recited a mind control spell that would allow her to manipulate Clark and bend him to her will. But like three days ago, there was a mental thought block that prevented her from finishing and applying it. It frustrated and angered her that the cream of her plans was not working.

"Why're you doing this?!" Clark cried out in anguish.

The smile dropped from Circe's face, "Revenge." she stated as she fired off a massive energy ball at the royal box, obliterating it.

Clark quickly flew over to the wreck, relieved to see that no-one was caught in the explosion. Quickly scanning around him he spotted the Queen and her party not far away. Circe was too busy trying to destroy everything around her to notice that Hippolyta was not dead yet.

Clark touched down near them. "Princess, please tell them that I need to talk to the Queen." Clark requested as he walked brusquely past Diana. They were outside the stadium, now burning from Circe's doing.

Philippus, Artemis and a shield wall blocked his path to Hippolyta. "I need to speak to her." he gritted. The guards didn't move. Clark had no care for any of this anymore, his patience was already running on fumes. He encased all their feet in a sheet of ice rendering them immobile to stop him.

He looked at Diana, silently asking and waiting if she was going to resist as well. She stood surprised for a moment, half-marvelling at witnessing another one of his abilities. She ultimately decided to nod her head slowly in affirmation and let him approach the Queen, seeing the desperate urgency in his eyes.

"What is it that you want, man?" Hippolyta questioned, becoming more guarded and tense at seeing how he neutralised her best guards with a single breath. They voiced their protests but Hippolyta held her hand up, accommodating Clark.

"That woman;" he began in reference to Circe, "she's one of yours."

Hippolyta dismissed the notion, "You're mistaken, Kal-El."

"She said she's an Amazon, and she's here for revenge. Why?"

Hippolyta frowned at the slight accusation in Clark's tone. "That woman hasn't been an Amazon for centuries, do not associate us with the likes of her."

"Oh, so you know who she is?" he fired back.

"Watch your tone, Kal-El." Hippolyta admonished.

Clark unflinchingly looked at Hippolyta straight. "With all due respect, my intonation is the last thing you should be afraid of." he said in a voice so low yet powerful at the same time, his formerly blue eyes now pulsating a very faint red.

Hippolyta said steely, "Are you threatening us? I tell you now that you will be making a mistake."

Clark's eyes burned for a split-second before cooling down to their normal blue, but they were still very sharp. "That woman hurt someone I hold dear so she could get to you." he avowed in a low, calculated voice, almost whispering. "Unless you're willing to enlighten me; I've nothing else to lose."

Hippolyta lips tightened at Clark's glare, she could see that under all the anger he was very upset. "Her name is Circe." she sighed. "She was an Amazon but now she's banished. Disowned, if you will. She was never to set foot on the island ever again and somehow she found a way to get back."

Diana listened intently at this new information. "Your cousin was an Amazon?" she inquisitively asked. Clark looked at her, any trace of previous warmth was gone from his eyes. "Kara's not here anymore."

He turned to Hippolyta, "I need to stop her. Amazon or not, she's going to kill a lot of your people."

"You're technically still sentenced." Diana reminded him.

"Right now, you should be more concerned about 'Circe'." he remarked. "And I think you've drawn enough blood from me already." he added as he pointed to his leg.

"Our fight is not over." she countered.

Clark shook his head, "My fight is not with you, Princess." he said with certainty.

"But still-"

Clark looked at her daringly, "Are you going to stop me and let her rampage around?" he said as freed the guards' feet with a burst of heat.

"Do you forfeit?"

"Sure." he muttered. Frankly he couldn't care less about his trial at this junction. Not when Kara is here.

"Circe has grown powerful." Hippolyta observed. "What are you going to do, Kal-El?"

"Circe needs to be stopped from killing anyone." he said.

"How?" Hippolyta found his behaviour very peculiar, even suspect, that he was still thinking of protecting others despite of his loss.

"Firstly, I need to get her away from here."

"And?"

"She's taken control of my cousin's body, which means that she's got the same vulnerabilities as I do." he surmised.

"You're not a human, are you?" Diana asked wryly, somewhat hoping that he would tell her what he was.

"Not quite." he answered her vaguely. "Majesty, what makes Circe so powerful?" he asked Hippolyta.

"She's a servant of Hecate." Clark tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows curiously, "Hecate is the Goddess of Magic and Witchcraft. Circe is slave to her." she further elaborated.

"Magic and witchcraft?" he uttered in slight disbelief.

"Yes." she confirmed. He looked off to the distance and licked his bottom lip, contemplating what he just heard.

He was an alien from another planet with superpowers, so something outlandish like magic shouldn't be that hard for him to get his head round. But it was. _Magic, yeah, wait what?!_

Witchcraft…Immortal women…One of whom has powers like him and a paradise island somehow hidden to the world. This was getting ludicrous.

His confusion wasn't his biggest worry though, he realised that it was magic that he can be vulnerable to. _Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic _he wondered.

He turned to Diana, "Princess, you and your mother need to get to the Healing Isle."

"I'm not harmed." Hippolyta pointed out.

"I know, but if you're at the Healing Isle then Circe will want to be there as well." Clark recalled that the Healing Isle neutralised his physical abilities, so naturally it should neutralise Kara's too. "You'll be able to stop her on the Healing Isle, right now she's close to invulnerable."

"I can take her here." Diana said confidently to which Hippolyta and the rest of the Amazons agreed. She had the power to resist magic, and her skill was second to none.

"Maybe, but I can't let you." Clark said.

"Why?"

"Can you kill her?" Clark asked.

"If I have to."

"You _will_ have to." Clark affirmed. "At this state the only way to stop her would be to kill her. She's invulnerable to almost anything."

"Then so be it." Hippolyta insisted. "The punishment for violating her banishment was Tartarus anyway. Her sentence just overlooked the instance that she might perform something like this."

"No." Clark gritted.

Hippolyta seemed aghast, "I beg your pardon?"

Clark explained, "I want to save whatever's left of my cousin. Weakening Circe on the Healing Isle might give me a chance."

Hippolyta found this foolish, yet fleetingly admirable that he so obviously cared for his cousin yet was willing to protect everyone who caused her pain. She regarded Clark challengingly, "And what if you can't subdue her? Will you let Circe live?"

"I'm not a warrior, your Majesty. I'm not trained to think nor act like a warrior and I'm not just going to kill someone."

Diana spoke, "Even when someone poses grave danger to you you'd let them live?"

"I'm afraid I'm a bit more idealistic than that." he dryly remarked.

"How so?" Diana pressed.

He shrugged, "Turn the other cheek, if you will." He remembered that lesson when Martha and Jonathan taught him that it took a higher strength to not strike out in vengeance against bullies. He believed in that principle, but there would come a time when he knew he would have to protect people using force. To bully the bullies.

"Such naïve thinking," Hippolyta sniffed cynically. "How old are you, Kal-El?"

What's the point in lying? "I'm nineteen." he supplied, Hippolyta's expression changed and she started looking at him as if he was something meek.

"Nineteen?! You are but a child! You have not seen what we have seen. You haven't suffered what we've suffered."

Diana couldn't help but think that she's definitely heard those sentiments before. Her mother has echoed the same words to her in one form or another. A 'youthful and hopeful outlook' was what her mother effectively described her attitude was compared to the rest. Kal-El had something else in common with her, she realised, and it went beyond them being exactly the same age.

Clark wanted to tell her she was wrong, he wanted to tell Hippolyta that he's had pain and death happen to him and he's seen death happen to other people. But that would be slightly petulant of him. He didn't need any validation, nor did he need any pity.

"If I can't find a way, I will kill her myself. And no-one else." Clark stoically promised. The words that came out of his mouth were strong, but he knew when such time came he would be beyond weak. He resolved to protect other people without killing, but he didn't know how far he can go when one of his loved ones…his _only _loved one was suffering like this.

"Very well." Hippolyta conceded. "For the time being your sentence is suspended. We will make our way to the Healing Isle. You'd better hope that you're correct, Kal-El."

"Okay. But which way is the Healing Isle, exactly?" he inquired.

"That way. To the south." Diana informed him. He memorised the position of the sun relative to the direction she was pointing and nodded.

The winged cavalry arrived to whisk the Queen and her party away, and Circe noticed their departure as they took to the skies. She broke off attacking the rest of the Amazons to follow them but she felt something crash into her.

Clark shot off high into the sky. He quickly found Circe and dove down to tackle her in mid-air, knocking her off-balance as he began pushing her away. Circe electrified her skin, and Clark felt it, but he forced himself to endure the shocks for as long as it took to lead Circe away and give the others time to get to Healing Isle. Soon the two were crashing into a field miles from the stadium.

Clark got up first, wincing in pain from the magic, but the high-noon Sun eased some of the stinging. "You're so annoying!" Circe shrieked as she once more firing balls of energy at Clark.

"Is that all you've got?" Clark goaded back as he dodged the melon-sized projectiles.

Circe growled, and she spoke a spell that caused scores of skeleton warriors to rise up out of the ground.

The skeletons moved to surround Clark. But he quickly and efficiently dismantled them by superheating their bones with his vision and then instantly super-cooling them with his breath, causing the skeletons to shatter at the slightest movement.

"Zombie skeletons, wow." he said unimpressed. "What've you been watching?"

"Such arrogance" Circe scowled at him, "I'm going to-"

Circe didn't get to finish her sentence. Clark blurred to land a punch on her. Then another, and another. Soon she was being thrown around by the never-ending hits. She had to create a magical force field around her to stop the onslaught. Clark, who was moving too fast crashed into the shield violently and destroyed it, causing him to stumble and falter in a slight daze.

Circe shouted, "Enough of this! You're going to die!" She prepared to unleash a massive ball of energy that this time; should be enough to finish off Clark.

Clark was seeing double, he saw Circe and her energy ball get larger and larger. The ball's diameter was equal to a large bus, and she was ready to send it his way. His muscles protested, but he had to move.

The explosion was large, so powerful that even Circe had to look away and shield her eyes. She smiled to herself in satisfaction, "Good riddance." and then left the crater she created.

Clark felt the effects of a mild concussion, his ears were ringing and he couldn't see straight for a bit. But at least he wasn't dead, he'd barely managed to avoid the worst effects of that huge explosion but he was thrown quite some distance away.

It took a few minutes for him to get himself together. Looking around he saw that Circe was gone and he urgently got up to his feet.

Head rush. He got up too fast, but as soon as he felt good enough he flew off in the direction of Healing Isle as fast as he can.

* * *

Queen Hippolyta, Princess Diana and the rest of the Royal Guard alighted off their mounts and set up a perimeter around the Healing Isle.

Since Princess Diana looked a bit like Hippolyta, it was suggested by Philippus that she should dress up in the Queen's robes and crown. The objective was to try and decoy Circe into a fight where the Princess could win easily.

As if on cue, Circe appeared above the Healing Isle. "Hippolyta! I know you're here!" she started bombarding the surrounding buildings below her.

"Where are you?

She spotted someone running in the distance. "You can't hide from me!" she instantly appeared before whom she thought was Hippolyta.

"Clever." Circe was almost amused. "You're not Hippolyta. You're the one from the beach, who are you?"

Diana shrugged the robes off revealing the golden armour and unsheathed her sword. "My name is Diana. I'm Hippolyta's daughter."

Now she sounded very amused. "Daughter…?" she repeated. "Wow! I guess your old hag of a mother had her fun with that fornicator Zeus after all. Or was it Heracles?"

"Do not speak of my mother like that." Diana gritted, on the way to losing her temper over this woman's slanderous words. She was struggling to believe that she used to be an Amazon. She moved to attack but Circe disappeared.

She reappeared behind Diana, laughing mockingly. "Well, maybe I should kill you instead and make her watch." Circe was getting very excited at the prospect of tormenting Hippolyta like that, "Yes…that's what I'm going to do. Nothing like a mother's love, right?"

Diana took a deep breath, she couldn't afford to get enraged and make rash decisions in the heat of battle. Instead she retorted "Circe, isn't it? Was it worth it being banished just to be Hecate's lackey?"

"Please, Princess." she chortled. "I'm more than a 'lackey'."

"You forfeited your soul. You are Hecate's slave for life. All the power you have and she has your soul under her thumb. There will never be anything else for you but the fact that you're a glorified witch. You couldn't even come here on your own, you had to kill an innocent woman just so that you can set foot on Themyscira. How pathetic." Diana spat.

"Shut your mouth. I will show you how powerful I am." Circe drew on all of her magic and concentrated all of her energy in one mind control spell. It was very difficult but she forced herself to push past the thought block and finally had her mind control going. She was going to take control of Diana. The Princess would be expendable to Circe's bidding. How fitting for Hippolyta to die by her own daughter's hands.

Circe finished the spell, and felt the magic drain out of her. She smiled sinisterly at Diana, "Bow to me."

"What was that?" Diana whimsically wondered, a hint of amusement on her face.

Circe's smile disappeared. "How?!"

Diana was gifted by the Olympians, and she was virtually immune to Circe's magic-based mind control. "That's how powerful you are? I am not impressed." Diana mocked.

Circe screamed in frustration. She basically wasted all of her energy on a useless spell. If her magic wasn't going to work, then she would have to do this the old way. Fortunately, she thought, that she had Kara's abilities to augment her.

Circe attacked, and Diana very easily blocked her and then threw her down on the floor in a smooth reversal.

Circe rolled to her feet perplexed, she tried to attack again but this time Diana put her in a hold and subdued her. Kal-El was right after all, Circe was being neutralised by the Healing Isle.

Amazons started to appear out of their ambush spots, weapons drawn and pointed at Circe. She was lying on the floor, she tried to get up and break free but a quick tap from Diana and she was biting the dust again.

"I assume that the plan has succeeded." said Hippolyta as she approached Diana. She glanced at Circe and shook her head in disgust. She was shackled now with similar bonds to the ones used on Kal-El.

"Well done, Princess." Philippus congratulated Diana as she and Artemis walked up to her.

"Teacher, Artemis." Diana met. "It wasn't much of a fight though, so don't sing my praises too much." she said.

"Indeed, although I very much wish that I had the chance to scratch the itch on my string hand though." agreed Artemis, who was playing with the tip of one of her magical arrows.

"You will very much regret coming here." Hippolyta whispered to Circe. A sonic boom interrupted the scene and Kal-El very gingerly hovered a considerable distance above the ground, wary of the Isle's effects on him.

Diana floated up to him, "You were right, Kal-El. The Healing Isle had the desired effect on her."

His eyes flashed with concern, "How hurt is she?"

"Not very, it didn't take much to subdue her."

He didn't say anything back, but instead kept his gaze trained on Circe. He wasn't seeing Circe now, and a sadness marred over his features at seeing who used to be his fun-loving cousin being corralled like this. Diana noticed it, and she wondered what he must feel like.

Suddenly the chains on Circe broke away, some of her magic was returning and she was willing to go through another act of defiance. Circe's hold on Kara's body relied on her being strong enough to carry her magic. Now that Kara's body was physically weakening, the magic was baseless and much weaker.

Artemis fired off the arrow, but it never reached Circe. Clark caught the arrow's shaft in his hand and reflexively dropped it like a hot potato. He took a lungful and blew a huge gust of wind at Circe, encasing her in a massive block of ice the size of a small cottage.

"That should hold her for now until she's completely depowered." he said to Diana after sending a look at Artemis. He grunted at the sapping sensation in his hand. "Was that arrow magical?" he asked.

"I believe so." she responded.

"Magic." he uttered in distaste.

Diana frowned, "Do you have a problem with magic?"

"What if I do?" Clark answered bluntly. "What do you care?"

He was being rude again. "Is it because magic's the reason Kara's suffering like this?" she pressed.

"Circe is the reason for Kara's death. Magic was just the means." he tried to correct her, not wanting to reveal how his vulnerability to magic truly troubled him.

"Do you really believe that she's dead?"

Clark opened his mouth to answer her, but he hesitated. He hasn't completely given up hope that Kara was lost forever. But what if she was? It was horrible thinking about it and the feeling of grief was starting to sink in.

Diana watched his striking blue eyes as they seemed to glimmer and dampen for a nanosecond before blinking and turning enigmatic once more. Her last question engaged him in deep thought, she realised. She knew as much when she saw him staring expressionlessly at the frozen Kara, his face just as cold and still as his iced cousin.

"Kal-El?" he didn't respond, "Kal-El?" she probed with more urgency.

He snapped out of it, quelling his sorrow and quickly turned his head in attention.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently.

He ignored her concerns, "Princess, where's the Queen?"

"She's consulting with Epione." Said Diana. It still irked her that he'd reverted to still calling her by her title.

"I have to speak to her." he said.

"Why?"

"I might need her help. Well, not me, Kara needs her help." explained Clark.

"Follow me." she floated to the Queen's direction and Clark floated behind her.

Clark stopped when they reached the building. "I can't go in there."

"Why not?" she asked.

Clark knew that he'd start weakening if he set foot in one of the Isle's buildings. Diana caught in on it, "Your sentence is suspended, Kal-El." she reminded him.

"Your mother can lift that suspension anytime she wants. So I'd prefer to wait for her here." he said defensively. "Tell her that she can take as long as she wants to see me."

Diana wondered if he was being sardonic again. "I-I mean I don't want to come across as entitled. So, uh, I can wait for her here." he reasoned. "Please?" he added with a slight grimace.

"Very well then." Diana had to smile to herself at his polite nervousness as she went inside, it seemed a stark contrast to the man who had to freeze the guards to talk to the Queen earlier.

"Mother?" she called.

Hippolyta broke off from her conversation with Epione. "Ah, Diana. Where is the boy?"

_Boy…? _"He's outside. He wants an audience with you as soon as you can accommodate him."

"Then why doesn't he come in here?"

"It's because of the Isle's effects on him."

Hippolyta rolled her eyes, "Men. They always have to be in a position of strength." she remarked acidly. "Tell him he has to come in here if he wants to speak with me. And only then."

Diana returned to Clark with the news, and that he had to follow through. He conceded and entered the building with Diana, feeling that weird sensation as soon as he touched down on the floor.

Hippolyta was waiting for him, "Ah, Kal-El. What was it that you wanted to speak to me about, but saw yourself as being above entering the same building as me?"

"Your Majesty," Clark exasperated. "I need your help."

Hippolyta raised her eyebrows, "Help in what?"

Clark refused to buckle under her gaze, "Circe used magic to take control of my cousin's body, so I was wondering if there was a way to free her using magic too."

"You're asking if we know of a way to free Circe's soul from your cousin's body." Hippolyta presumed.

"Yes." he sighed.

"You are aware that none of us are sorcerers?"

He found that hard to believe, that their entire island was associated with magic yet none of them had the power to wield it. "Is there a way to think outside the box?" he began.

Hippolyta regarded him queerly. "I mean," he started to explain, "Circe was banished from the island; but she's here because the punishment was only actually tied to her body and not her soul, right?"

"One could retrieve Circe's body, place it on Themyscira and see if the punishment will free Kara's body of Circe's soul." Diana tallied.

Clark paused for a second, he was going to say the exact same thing. "Yes." he said in accordance.

"Pardon me," Hippolyta put her hand up, "but who is this Kara?"

"My cousin." Clark answered. "She has a name." he felt the need to emphasize.

"And how old is she?"

"She's about the same age as me."

Hippolyta sounded frustrated, "So you're proposing going back to Man's World and finding Circe's body to bring it back here?"

"I am." Clark answered.

"No." Hippolyta flatly refused.

"It could work." he began.

"We cannot let you go free out of the island, Kal-El. We are not simpletons."

"I'm not going to run," he vowed, "my cousin's still here, and I'm not leaving without her."

"What if you decide to take action against us?"

"I would've done that already." he said.

"Still, we can't just let you go free. Your sentence is suspended but that doesn't mean you're acquitted."

"You could have someone paroling me." Clark offered as he looked over at Diana, his suggestion clear to her and the Queen.

"Are you out of your mind?" Hippolyta and Diana blurted in stereo.

Clark chuckled. His eyes sparkled with mirth and he smiled a dimpled smile, "I'm tackling witchcraft on a hidden island. A mythical, magical island with a population of immortal warrior women no less. I'd be worried if I _wasn't _out of my mind."

Diana had to fight the urge to snicker, seeing him smile like that somehow lightened her mood. Hippolyta was not amused, and she looked crossly at Kal-El.

Clark took a deep breath, "Your Majesty, you said yourself there's no other discernible way of releasing Kara. I would risk everything for her. If there's a chance this can work, it's the only thing I'll ever do." he said quite seriously, the passion clear in his voice. He said it with such sincere confidence that Hippolyta and Diana had to heed him.

Hippolyta felt herself reluctantly softening towards Kal-El. He was only two decades old; a diminutive amount of time for someone as old as Hippolyta. He still had that relaxed, carefreeness of youth. But through his actions he exhibited determination that she seldom found in warriors multiple times his age. He had the courage to smile in front of her, and the bravery to stand up to her.

She respected his dedication and desire to protect those close to him. She respected that noble and honourable side of him, even though he was a man. Hera, he wasn't even a 'man', he was a mere boy.

"Kara seems to be very important to you." Hippolyta said to him.

"She's my family." he answered softly.

After a moment's contemplation, Hippolyta said, "I will have to consult with my advisers about this."

Clark's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Your Majesty." he sent a small nod at Diana, "I'll wait outside."

"Mother? Are you actually going to consider this?" inquired Diana, she couldn't believe that Hippolyta was actually entertaining this whole prospect. Of sending her out there with him.

She sighed, "The only other choice we have is to kill 'Kara'. And I know that would bring upon us his wrath."

"You're scared of him?"

"No, Diana." Hippolyta answered surely. "As powerful as he may seem; he is only a child, and he said himself that he is unwilling to kill. But one could tell that he's willing to go to great lengths to protect his own."

"Do you believe him?"

"Do you?" Hippolyta asked asked back.

Diana thought about it for a moment. _Yes_, she did. "What do you see in him then?"

Hippolyta confessed, "I find my own conscience tugging at me whenever he talks of protecting his kin."

"Really?" Diana responded. There was a small curve of disbelief at the edge of her lips.

"Yes."

"Mother, are you all right?" she asked drolly.

Hippolyta chuckled. "I need to consult to everyone regarding this, including the Senate."

"What do think they'll say?"

"I will make sure that the Senate knows both sides of the story, and only then can they decide. As to what we'll agree on; I'm not sure."

Diana's voice sounded roused, "Mother, do you think there's a chance the Senate will agree to his request?"

Hippolyta sensed the anxiety in Diana's voice. "I don't know, Diana."

That uncertainty unnerved Diana. The possibility of even venturing out of Themyscira was daunting yet exciting to her. She'd spent all of her life on this island. And while it was very lovely, she knew that there was a world out there that she probably wouldn't've had the remote chance of seeing if it wasn't for Kal-El's appearance.

She found herself thinking more and more of what the outside world would be like since Kal-El's arrival. Was it like her sisters described it, was it like what she read in those books or was it something more?

* * *

Clark, after some exertion floated outside. He kept a vigilant eye on the frozen Circe, counting her heartbeats the whole time. Her ice cage was slowly thawing and it wasn't long before she would be free. But that didn't matter much, she would be completely depowered by now.

She was supposed to be invulnerable, like him. But then, magic. Magic of all things proved to be something that Kryptonians are vulnerable to. Maybe if he went with Kara to that damned club none of this would've happened. He could've prevented all this, saved her even.

He was lamenting what would happen if he doesn't see Kara again. No more sightseeing trips. No more one-upping over who can say a random phrase using another language faster. He beat her at Welsh, and she beat him at Tibetan. They spent a good while that afternoon debating over which one sounded cooler, and it ended up with him just mimicking her accent in teasing.

He could be back in Metropolis and she could be in the Fortress working on something amazing. A forlorn smile came to his lips when he remembered that Kara told him she was working on something secret. He hoped that she would get the chance to finish that particular project, if nothing else.

If this process was irreversible, he would have to let the unthinkable happen. Trying to remain optimistic, he kept on telling himself to believe that Kara is still there under all that magic BS. But the pragmatic side of him couldn't help but question if anything they were going to try was actually going to work.

He would be the only one left. If Kara was gone; he would be truly alone, he'd have no-one left but his virtual parents. He felt empty just thinking about it.

"Kal-El?"

He half-turned his head in acknowledgement. "Princess." He already knew that she was floating behind him before she spoke.

"You'll be glad to know that my mother is actually taking your request very seriously." she informed him.

"Thank God." he sighed.

"Which one?" she asked.

Clark's face puzzled slightly, "The one I believe in…?" He shrugged. "It was a figure of speech."

"Indeed." Diana said pensively. She then began, "I know how you're probably going to answer me, but were you actually gifted by _any_ god?" she asked.

Clark turned to her now. Considering how her mother obliged him, he decided to try and not be an insensitive douche-bag this time.

"Nah." he shook his head, "I'm not an 'Olympian', and I'm not magical either." he said as least acerbically as possible.

"You can fly, you can emit heat from your eyes and you can create huge winds. Such power can only be obtained from a god." Diana purposely didn't mention that he very well could pass off as a younger, leaner god based on appearance alone.

"Kara's like me." he shrugged. "I assume you were gifted by 'gods'?"

"Yes." she answered. "A multitude of them, as a matter of fact."

"Let me guess; Zeus, Hermes, Aphrodite, Artemis and a few others? Athena as well maybe?"

"Yes!" Diana's eyes widened, "How did you know?"

"I've read about them. They're quite fascinating." he said. Clark spent an entire day with Kara going to Greek museums and culture centres, and he found the whole dynamic of the ancient Greek gods very intriguing to say the least. But never did he count on them being actually real.

"But that couldn't've told you everything."

"You said powers like yours could only come directly from gods." he replied logically. "Well, you can fly. So that could mean the messenger god. You're quite strong, and you have very good reactions, Zeus and Artemis presumably."

"Is that all? What about the others?"

"You're, uh, not dumb." he offered, Diana's face puzzled. Clark fumbled now. "And, umm…"

"And?" she pressed.

"Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love and Beauty, right?"

"Correct, she gifted me as well. Why do you ask?" she said, her lips forming a smile. She was even more beautiful when she was smiling the way she was.

Clark's eyes were warm and expressive as he said with a soft smile, "Well, looking at you, one could believe that the Goddess of Love and Beauty is the most generous of all Olympians." As soon as the words left Clark's mouth, his heart spiked in his chest and he had to look away.

He grimaced to himself. ''_What the hell, Kent?! Seriously dude?! Go ahead and slap yourself in the face before she does.'' _said the sensible part of his brain. He usually listened to it. He knew he was behaving capriciously, dangerously impulsive with that last sentence. If the Amazons tried him for mere trespassing then Lord knows what they'd do if he tried anything funky with the Princess.

But he would have to be senselessly blind to ignore her ethereal beauty in face and form. It was a lot more than her being attractive, though. There were a lot of beautiful women on this island, and everywhere else for that matter.

_She_ was the only one that he felt he could act a semblance of himself around. Even though she was on the other side; she was the only one to visit him, to actually talk to him, to show concern. Like she actually cared.

It was just that being around the Princess made him feel at ease, more…carefree with his decorum. It was crazy; he barely knew her and he was already relaxing around her. But now he felt rather tense.

Clark stammered due to his haste to clarify, "W-w-" He sighed. "What I meant to say was, that you're, uh, a very kind _person_, Diana. Princess or not."

Diana, inexplicably, felt a sudden heat creep up her cheeks and down her arms. She was glad he looked away. It would've been incongruous for a Princess to blush, even slightly - in front of a man. She didn't fail to notice that he'd called her by her name, and the soft candidness when he did so. He in turn, didn't fail to notice her raised heartbeat.

"Aphrodite, as well as the rest are my patrons." she said.

"Oh?" he responded with genuine curiosity as he looked at back at her. "What for?"

"To serve them." she answered curtly. That wasn't the crux of it, Diana believed that there was more to it than that. The gods had yet unknown reasons for her existence, but he didn't need to know about that.

He sounded unimpressed with the self-serving nature of her deities, "They gifted you powers so you could serve them?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes."

"Why'd you need gifts to serve them?" he mused. Diana frowned, "I was just wondering." he repaired quickly afterwards.

There was no predetermined reason why _he_ had powers. If Krypton still existed, he'd just be yet another El scientist. It was just by fate that he was a Kryptonian on Earth.

Science dictated that Kryptonians' bodies had enabling properties under a yellow Sun; and because of what he saw he decided to do something about the abilities that he had. As far as he knew, this place was paradise, there was little need for her powers here.

Suddenly he was very curious of the real reasons why her gods gave her abilities liken to his own, but he thought it'd be wiser to leave that curiosity be.

"You haven't answered my question yet." she said. "Why do you have your powers?"

"That's not the same question."

"How is it not?"

"You asked me how I have my powers, now you're asking me why." he replied sharply.

"Is it not the same?"

"Not quite." he grinned.

"So what are you then?" she finally asked, slightly frustrated by his evasiveness. "Just tell me what's special about you."

"There's nothing special about me. I'm just different." he said. "Not normal. Alien to those I live around."

"What do you mean by 'alien'?"

"I meant it by definition. I'm an alien to those I live around and to those I meet, present company included." Clark knew this was the time to disengage. It occurred to his mind that there was only one other person in his past that he told his secret to. He wasn't willing to tell Diana what he really is yet, despite the growing familiarity between them.

"That's it?"

"Yeah." he murmured plainly with a shrug.

Diana sounded disappointed in his answer, she'd hoped that he'd be more comfortable talking about himself. He drew a lot of interest out of her; he wasn't a human, he wasn't an Olympian and he wasn't a barbarian. He was like her. Yet what fascinated her was that he obviously cared a lot about those close to him and the strangers around him. He was humble, yet used his strength whenever others were at risk. It went completely against what she was taught.

It slightly alarmed Diana; that she was once again analysing him like that. She was actively trying to know more about him. Only this morning she was psyching herself to kill him. In hindsight, she realised how unwise that would've been. He helped subdue Circe as much as anyone.

"Kara is like you, isn't she?" she reasoned. "So you can't be, as you say; 'alienated' from the rest of your family."

"I guess you could say that." he shrugged. "When can I expect to hear from the Queen?" he now asked, his voice changing from conversational to purposeful.

"She's to convene with the Senate about what to do with Circe."

He nodded in understanding. "Shouldn't you be in that meeting?" he prompted.

"I'm not on the cabinet." she said.

"Well, surely you have more important things to do than to stay here with me?"

"I do, I do. I have to wait for my mother to give the Senate's decision." she replied hastily. "How's your leg?" she asked, glancing down at the part where her lance struck him, there was a sizeable scar but the gash has disappeared.

"I'll be fine." he said as he rubbed the spot. "I apologise for losing your lance, Princess."

"All's fair in war." she quipped. He offered a brief smile.

"I would understand if you're harbouring ill feelings towards us." Diana began.

"Not really." he replied. "You did what you had to do. You're protecting yourselves against a repeat of your history. I can never judge you for that." he said calmly. It occurred to him that he was doing the same thing. He was trying to circumvent any vulnerability in order to protect what he had, but he was on the way to failing on both counts. He was attracted to Diana. He knew any attraction of his never good when he couldn't help it.

"That was a very good lance though." she mused, surprised by his candid answer.

He grinned, "My leg agrees with you."

He fell silent as he resumed watching over Circe. Diana noticed that enigmatic coldness glaze over his eyes once more; indicating that he was in deep thought. It didn't take long for her to assume that he was back to thinking about his cousin.

He noticed her looking at him at the edge of his eye. Clark wanted to avoid this. He wanted to avoid forming any type of bond with his captors, but Diana was not like the rest. Despite the circumstances, the two of them were building a rapport on each other. It was yet short-lived, but it was there nonetheless.

* * *

"This is madness." proclaimed one of Hippolyta's cabinet members.

"It is completely unacceptable. We cannot send the Princess out there, especially with the likes of _him." _agreed another sister; Magda.

Hippolyta contended, "Remember sisters, it was Circe's doing that caused all of this to happen. She's from the outside world, but she was an Amazon. She's our enemy, and we must be the ones to end our enemies, wherever they hide in and wherever they came from."

"Then why can't we just end her here?" chimed one of the Senate members; Cleo.

Hippolyta called Penelope, the senior priest, inside to explain what Circe has done regarding the transfer of her soul.

Hippolyta addressed the room, "Do you see, sisters? That we cannot defeat Circe without murdering an innocent woman at the same time?"

There were murmurs of assent and opposition all throughout the room. "Sacrifices must be made." said Magda.

"Are you saying we sacrifice the lives of innocents to defeat our enemies?" Hippolyta replied. "We can't just kill without suffering the consequences."

"They are not innocents! They are trespassing on our land!" it was said with contempt.

"You all were present at the trial, it was because of Circe that they find themselves here. They are children not warriors, the both of them. We cannot sacrifice children because we can't defeat the enemy that victimised and brought them here."

"He's still sentenced."

"That sentence has been suspended for now, as we have a bigger threat to us than him. A threat, mind you, he helped protect us from and neutralise." Hippolyta countered. "There has been death here, and it was because of Circe. Not Kal-El. He's is suggesting a solution that can potentially avert any more unnecessary deaths. Think about that."

"Your Majesty, are you defending this man?" Philippus said to her.

Hippolyta responded, "General, I am defending what I think is right. It was one of our former sisters who put them in this predicament. Could you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that killing him and his cousin because of Circe is something we can uphold and stand by?"

The General had no answer.

The Amazons in the Senate room conversed about the different ways they could tackle this. It became evident to everyone that Circe's body is the key to defeating her without having the blood of Kara and Kal-El on their hands. Penelope clarified as much when she confirmed that bringing Circe's body to Themyscira could work.

Hippolyta stood up. "We'll put this to a vote."

* * *

Clark hadn't moved from his watching over Circe. She was detained securely on the Healing Isle but he felt the need to keep an eye on her still. Diana left a while ago to check on the Senate's decision, and he insisted on staying here since Circe had to stay here.

The Sun was setting now, and still no word from anyone. As the time went on he got more and more anxious about what was going to happen. It was then he detected Diana in the distance flying over to him. Not that he was waiting diligently for her appearance.

He gave a cordial nod, "Good evening, Princess."

"Kal-El, you have to come with me to the Palace." she said quite gravely.

Concern registered on his face. "Is it bad?"

"I don't know, but we have to get there now." she prompted. Clark took one last scan at Kara, perhaps to ingrain a last image of her on his mind. Then she followed Diana upward as the two took to the skies.

It never occurred to Diana before, but this was the first time that she was with anyone that could fly like her. The first time someone could actually follow her in the air.

For Diana, this was the first time she had anyone at her side as she flew over Themyscira. Gliding among the clouds was one of her favourite pastimes; but all of the previous times she had been at her lonesome. The feeling of having someone with her was very strange. She was acutely aware of the fact that she was sharing an experience so intimate to her with who was effectively an outsider. And the irony didn't escape her that said outsider turned out to be a man.

The two were silent as they made their way to the palace. He was flying slightly behind her and to her left. To the west was the orange Sun dipping under the horizon.

She glanced behind her. He seemed so relaxed flying like this. She knew as much when she saw Helios reflected in his blue eyes, and the way the rays burnished his skin. Like a very young Apollo she thought. She was aware of his handsome form before, but now was the first time that it had a profound effect on her. His long black hair fluttered behind him and she saw him momentarily close his eyelids, as if relishing the moment of peace. Could it be that he enjoyed flying as much as her?

Clark broke the silence between them. "Princess, isn't Apollo your sun god?" he asked. He felt rejuvenated being high up in the cool sky like this.

"Yes, he is." answered Diana, somewhat bemused that he would choose to ask that. "But he is not one of my patrons." she added.

Diana increased her airspeed, wanting to see if he could keep up with her. He did, and it seemed that there was no exertion on his part. She sped up some more, and still he kept up with her. Soon she was reaching a speed that she considered very fast indeed, but he was still there behind him.

Clark felt like a wild mustang in an open plain. He felt free. Streaking from cloud to cloud, he was actually enjoying the afforded respite. He was thankful that ''Apollo'' had granted him the power of flight. He could see that the Princess was somewhat trying to race him. And if the overall situation wasn't so serious, he would gladly oblige and see for himself how fast he can go. But now wasn't really the time to have too much fun so he just followed behind her.

At the speed the two were travelling at; it didn't take very long to get to their destination. Diana entered the Palace first and Clark followed her in.

Looking around, Clark suddenly felt self-conscious. He looked very out of place. His clothes were ragged, there was dirt all over his body and it wouldn't hurt for a comb. It looked like he was some peasant in a ballroom.

He walked behind the Princess, all the while politely bowing his head as they made their way throughout the Palace halls. There was still the omnipresent antagonism towards him though, but he noticed that the Palace guards and inhabitants weren't looking at him as scathingly as they were when he went to his trial.

They entered a large chamber with very high ceilings and lush décor. He recognised it as Queen Hippolyta's throne room. She was sitting on her throne with warriors at her flanks. His guard went up and he found himself memorising the direction of the nearest window.

He dipped his head at Hippolyta and clasped his hands behind him.

Hippolyta began in Greek, and Clark looked around for Alexa. But she wasn't here. "I will translate for you." Diana whispered to him after noticing his uncertainty.

He observed Diana's facial expression; focusing on her sapphire blue eyes, trying to get a bearing on what was being said. But then Hippolyta switched to English and looked directly at him.

"Kal-El, we have deliberated on your suggestion of bringing back Circe's body here on Themyscira. And the council has decided on giving you a chance. You may leave for Man's World to begin your search while your cousin is detained on the Healing Isle."

He seemed to blink and stare at her for a moment, then collected himself. "Yes ma'am." he acknowledged.

Hippolyta added, "To escort you on this excursion would be Princess Diana."

Diana gasped to herself, _did this mean…_? "Prepare to leave for Man's World tomorrow morning. You will return when your task is completed, and not a second later." Hippolyta sternly ordered.

"Understood." Clark affirmed. He was pleased that they actually accepted what he said, but he didn't want to seem too enthusiastic about it. He could tell that this issue may have divided the opinions of the Amazons. And it can't have been an easy decision for Queen Hippolyta to agree to send her daughter out there.

Hippolyta turned to Diana, "Princess, do you have anything to say?"

Diana swallowed, so it was, she was going out to Man's World. "I-I-I'll do as I'm ordered." she said briefly. Hippolyta knew that there were a lot of things she's feeling right now. Feelings she can't express in front of everyone. She would have to talk to her.

"Excellent. You are dismissed."

"Do you think it's a wise idea to send the Princess out there with him?" Philippus said to Hippolyta once Kal-El and Diana left.

"It was the right decision. Diana can defend herself," Hippolyta said, "but she is still young and curious. She still has that innocence. This will only show her that the outside world is no place for an Amazonian Princess. The outside world is an evil place, and she's going to have to learn and experience that first-hand."

Philippus smiled, "I must say that you have a very clever way of educating your children, Your Majesty."

"Humph, years of being a Queen will teach you that."

* * *

Clark saw Diana leave very fast as soon as they left the throne room. He couldn't tell if she was nervous or excited, but either emotion must be running through her. He was escorted to a barebones living quarters where he was told he could stay.

Hippolyta opened the door and looked into Diana's chambers. "Diana, are you in here?"

"Mother." came Diana's voice, she was sitting on the bed staring at her hands.

"There you are. I noticed that you weren't at dinner tonight."

Diana looked up at her mother. "I was in the library."

"Reading up on Man's World?" Hippolyta guessed.

"Yes." Diana said timidly. She actually didn't do much reading while she was there. Most of the time her mind was in its own world, thinking about the outside one.

"What did you learn?" Hippolyta asked.

"Just what the books had to say."

Hippolyta's lips curved slightly, and she put her hands on Diana's. "Man's World is everything we taught you it is. You must be careful out there."

"Mother, Kal-El is from that world. And he is _not _what I was thought he would be. What if that principle applied to the Patriarch World as well?"

"Diana, Kal-El is only very young." Hippolyta chided gently. "Had he ended up here maybe ten, fifteen years older I'm sure everything would've been different."

Diana frowned at that. She never saw anything in him that indicated wickedness. He risked his life for her when they barely met. Nevertheless, she didn't want to have a pointless argument with her mother so she decided to change the subject.

"What does Philippus and the others think of this?"

"The decision was almost an even split." Hippolyta stated. "There were only a few votes to decide the difference. Philippus voted against him."

"I'm not surprised. He did lose her favourite lance."

"How about you Diana? How do _you _feel about this?"

"I'm going to do what needs to be done."

Hippolyta offered her a small smile. "Be honest, child. What do you really feel?"

Diana drew out a long breath. "I don't think I can go to sleep tonight, knowing that tomorrow I'm going to leave Themyscira for the first time."

"Are you afraid of what you will see?" Hippolyta asked.

"Afraid? Not necessarily." said Diana. "It's just that I'm going into the unknown, and something I haven't really trained for."

"Are you having doubts?"

"No."

Hippolyta tried to ease her daughter, "The outside world is undoubtedly very harsh. There's a reason why we live in seclusion. But you're invulnerable, Diana. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Diana smiled. "Thanks, mother." Hippolyta got up to leave but before she walked out Diana had one final thing to say to her. "Mother, what did you vote for in the Senate?"

"My vote was the decisive one, Diana." Hippolyta closed the door and left.

As Diana watched her mother leave, her mind wandered to Kal-El. Was he also facing apprehension like her? Or was he still thinking about Kara? Diana had more perspective on just how fiercely he would protect those close to him. His initial attitude was abrasive and rude, but never arrogant. He would defy everyone, even her own mother, when it came to protecting Kara. But she knew that that protectiveness also extended to others; as evidenced by his actions when she met him and earlier, when he went after Circe.

She blew out the lantern and lied down.

She knew now that Kara meant a lot to him, and that it would greatly sadden Kal-El if she was lost. She got to wondering what the rest of his family must mean to him if he had as much love for Kara as he did. And surely, his own parents must be worried sick about him by now. He was only nineteen, like her, and he was already negotiating life and death situations and staring danger in the face.

A smile came to Diana's lips as she remembered how he complimented her earlier. There were brief moments of sincerity, humour and warmth coming from him whenever they conversed alone. But even then he could be mildly infuriating, especially in the way he fluctuated in the way he addressed her. She realised that Kal-El tended to use her title because he wanted to maintain a professional distance between them. She didn't now whether to feel relieved or annoyed by that. The only time he called her _Diana _was when he had something earnest and sincere to say. _  
_

Why couldn't he be like that all the time he was with her? He got under her skin, but she was having a hard time trying to understand who he was. There was obviously something unique about him regarding his powers, but he didn't see them as special. In hindsight, the only time he enforced his powers was when other people were threatened. She could sense that there's a lot he's not telling her. And she has a feeling she's about to know a lot more about him when they leave tomorrow.

* * *

Clark blew a small sheet of ice at the wall of his room, the reflection creating a makeshift transparent mirror. He was really scruffy now; his hair was greasy, his stubble was a lot rougher and his eyeballs were bloodshot to hell.

Comparing the man in the mirror to what he would've seen a week ago, he looked like he aged four years in as many days. His body felt physically rested and his eyes were still blue, but the heavy blackness underneath them suggested that the man of a week ago was now carrying a lot of stress. _The stress of a man going through a_ _heavily warped__ version of the stages of grief._

He got up very early for a guy who didn't have an early night in the first place. He spent a long time staring at the low ceiling last night thinking about what would happen today, tomorrow, and in the aftermath of this whole thing.

Today, he was going back to the 'outside world'. Normally that wouldn't be such a big deal. _Normally._ But today, he was going to have a travelling buddy; and she happened to be an immortal, magical, stunning Princess who's never seen the world before.

Diana was not an everyday Princess, if there ever was one, he thought. She was gifted by the gods, powerful, and beautifully so. Every part of her seemed to be an apple in Aphrodite's eyes, but it was her genuine humanity and her grace that stood out to him. She was closer to fairy tales than he'd ever want to admit.

And for some reason, he was going to be her colleague straight out of seclusion, all because because of a witch. _Bring on the talking crabs and queue the cheesy music. _He let out a sigh.

The perplexity of the situation aside; Clark knew that, for him at least, the consequences of this undertaking was substantial. He felt hope yesterday when he heard the Senate's decision to approve on them going out there, but how long can that hope last?

At the end of this 'excursion', Kara could somehow come back, or the opposite. That was what stressed and kept him up for so long; the prospect of being truly the last of his kind. He's long came to terms with being an alien, but being an _alone _alien was something else different. If it all went awry, he could probably fight or bargain his way to freedom. He scoffed at that, what kind of freedom was he going to escape to? A world where he was supposed to help people find the best in themselves; but what good was his new vocation when he himself would be hopeless?

Perhaps he could be a monk.

He forced himself to look at the bright side of this. He was either going to get Kara back, and if that failed...

No, he _needed _to get Kara back. He will bring her back. She was all that he had.

His eyes emitted their signature red and the ice sheet with the picture of the man on it melted away.


End file.
